Slipping Between the Lines
by The Rayne Alchemist
Summary: Rebirth is a bitch and Natsuki would kindly like off this ride now. She doesn't know what she did in her past life to deserve being stuck with a front row seat to the horror show that's yet to come but she really wishes she'd built up more good karma. Self indulgent writing around another self insert in the Naruto-verse. (Naruto OC twinfic)
1. Birth: Chapter 1

Being reborn is… confusing. And limiting. And very painful.

Having clear and conscious throughout the process while only being able to respond with a body's most primitive of instincts is straight up terrifying. The complete lack of control and the total inability to do a single damn thing for herself is something she would _never_ wish on someone else no matter how horrible they were.

That being said, it's not as though she has much of a choice.

This new life of hers starts much like the way her previous one ended – with a lot of screaming and ridiculously bright lights that make her eyes hurt and her head pound. Or maybe the pounding in her head has something to do with the vivid red filling her vision.

For a reborn newborn, already confused, scared and more than a little disoriented, it's too much and she begins to wail. She wails as she's taken from her mother and wrapped in a blanket. She wails while the nurses try to calm her down. She wails despite every attempt at pacification but it's all she can do when the pounding in her head is accompanied by a screaming crimson that's so full of malice she can practically feel it clawing at her skin.

But then the pounding is gone and in its place is a soft gold that envelops her like a blanket that's been left in the sun to dry. She coos at it, seeing as this is the only response she's capable of at the moment, glad for the reprieve when another red, a warmer one, fills her senses.

The screaming crimson isn't quite gone. She can still hear it in the back of her mind, but nestled between warm red and gold she feels safe and is content to push it aside and bask in their combined warmth. Distantly she registers that this must be her father and mother but the thought seems strange and vague like smoke in the wind. It's barely there before drifting away once more.

In this moment of quiet, the stress of rebirth and the ache in her head and body catches up to her and the newborn drifts into a fitful sleep.

As she sleeps she's unaware of what goes on around her.

She's unaware of the fact that she now has a brother and that said brother has been laid beside her.

She's unaware of the fact that right now, her parents are fighting tooth and nail for their lives and for the lives of their children against a man and a demon.

She's unaware of the tears streaming down her parents' face as they come to terms with making the worst decision a parent can make in this new world she's been born into.

She's even unaware when her brother starts screaming.

But then she's awake and very much aware when she's the one screaming. She's aware when she's the one feeling like she's stuffed to the brim and that her skin is going to tear apart at the seams from being so full.

She screams until her throat is raw and then screams some more.

On the tenth of October, Uzumaki Natsuki ushers in her first night of her confusing new existence with screams and tears.

* * *

 **Greetings new friends and old ones. T** **his story is largely self indulgent writing meant to get the author's brain juices flowing and to allow her to experiment with new things while she's stuck on her other stories. Like tenses. What even is a present tense? I don't know but I'm writing in it. Also, can we say hello to your latest unreliable narrator? yay *muffled applause***

 **I haven't read Naruto in a long while yet I've been sucked back into the fandom since I started reading a lot of Self-Insert fics. They're my guilty pleasure so I decided to try my hand at writing a character who has the potential to mess up a lot of things. So far my favourites are Dreaming of Sunshine (I think every SI author's favourite to be honest) by Silver Queen and Of the River and the Sea by Aleycat4eva. Both are fantastic reads that I'd recommend to anyone any day.**

 **Feel free to point out inconsistencies and errors. I'm trying to make things readable but, as I said, I'm very much experimenting with several different things in this story. I'm also discovering, time lines in Naruto are screwy at best which means head canons are going to be plentiful and I'm definitely going to be fudging a few things to make them easier to work with.**

 **I'm always open to suggestions and accept constructive criticism. It's all for the sake of improvement.**

 **-Rayne**


	2. Academy Days: Chapter 2

Anyone with a functional pair of eyes and a more than two brain cells to knock together can tell that Uzumaki Natsuki is a strange baby. Unlike her brother who relishes physical contact and cries when he doesn't get his fill, she is a silent child who spends her time absently gazing at the room around her. She hasn't yet gotten to the point where her eyes can properly see things yet the nurses and even a few doctors are stunned when she seems to display an uncanny awareness of the people around her. Her eyes vaguely follow them around the room while they work and remain on them up until they leave.

 _[To Natsuki the world is a blur of colour. She can't tell what her nurses look like but she can tell each of them apart by their distinct hues whenever they come nearer to feed the other children or to make note of something on the walls around them.]_

She abhors all her nurses save one and even then she seems to give in to her feeding and changing times with a heavy reluctance that has no place in a baby. It unnerves the nurse how well Natsuki seems to be able to recognize her even though a newborn really shouldn't be able to and any attempts at handing the picky child off to another caretaker is met with stubborn refusal to eat or even be handled. Once she manages to go an entire day without eating after which the nurse never hands her off to anyone else again.

 _[Natsuki considers this a victory. She only wants this nurse to touch her because she has a similar sort of warmth to the gold she was first introduced to when brought into this world and, unlike the other nurses, this one isn't tinged with darkness whenever she comes close. She'll keep this one until she's no longer needed.]_

She raises unholy hell in the nursery if she's separated from her brother for too long. So much so that the nurses eventually end up leaving the twins together at all times just to keep her quiet.

 _[She might not even know his name yet –_ _ **her stupid ears are too sensitive and everything sounds like gibberish to her anyway**_ _– but she knows what her brother_ _ **feels**_ _like and she wants him close at all times. He's the only thing familiar even though he's not even all that familiar at all. After all, the last time around she never had any siblings.]_

She's left mostly on her own. They both are. Most people are too unsettled by the girl to stay in the room with either child for long.

Their first few months are lonely but Natsuki spends most of the time in her head, trying to make sense of what little she knows and trying to organize the few fragments of memories she can remember, and the time goes by.

 **-\|/-**

At 6 months Natsuki learns her brother's name.

 _Naruto._

At first she thinks it's a joke but the name keeps being repeated and repeated and repeated until she can no longer deny the fact that her new baby brother is somehow Naruto Uzumaki.

 _[She learns, also, that her name is Natsuki but that seems less important when faced with the fact that she's somehow been reborn into a fucking manga series. She'd like off this ship now. Like right now.]_

She cries a lot during this time. Largely out of frustration and pure ' _why the fuck did this have to happen to me?'_. She gets over it eventually. Well, not really but she learns that there's not much else she can do but roll over and accept it when she's born into another world and forced to roll with it.

 _[She'd like to say now that the universe owes her so much karma for putting her in this situation while fully cognizant. She would have much rather liked to be an ignorant little baby like her brother instead of a paranoid twenty something year old panicking about a future involving destroyed villages and mercenaries hunting down her only other living family member.]_

She's only six month old but Natsuki knows she's fucked.

The one thing keeping her gripped to reality is the fact that now she has something to base her odd sixth sense on. Since her birth, Natsuki has seen the world in colour. Now that she knows exactly _where_ she is _[even if she's not too sure about the_ _ **why**_ _]_ she realizes that the 'colour' she's so used to sensing must be chakra.

Once she realizes this, she does her best to work on the sense that will no doubt become invaluable to her in the future.

It exhausts her, and Natsuki spends even more time asleep now than she did before, but it's worth it when she realizes she can sense her brother from two rooms away whenever they're separated for their check-ups.

She slates this as her first victory and continues to work while slowly beginning to plot.

 **-\|/-**

At the age of 9 months Natsuki thinks it's high time for her to take her first steps.

The supervising nurse doesn't believe her eyes at first when Natsuki scoots away from her brother to deliberate her feet intensely for a moment before huffing loudly and setting her palms on the ground. With a grunt she pushes up with both her feet and arms and is erect almost immediately.

The nurse waits with baited breath, watching as Natsuki sways in place for a moment or two before settling. A few feet away, her brother stops chewing on his toes and stares at his sister in awe. He's been crawling around a lot faster lately but seems nowhere near inclined to attempt the same feat of standing that his sister seems so determined to master.

For her part, Natsuki is simply trying her best not to fall over. She's so used to being in full control of her body that these last few months spent in a body less capable of supporting its own weight than a fucking worm is driving her crazy. She sets her eyes forward on her crib a few feet away and takes a few tentative steps.

This may be her first time walking but she's been practicing in bed. Slowly flexing the necessary muscles and training them in the necessary movements so that when she's finally vertical they'll know what to do.

She makes it halfway to the crib before her legs, unused to carrying her weight, give out on her and she lands flat on her butt. Pleased that she even managed to make it that far, she scoots back to her brother and decides that practice makes perfect and soon she'll be right where she needs to be.

The supervising nurse simply gapes while the two babies play and pinches herself to make sure she's not under a genjutsu of some sort.

She's not.

She shuts her jaw with a click and resolves to watch the twins more closely from now on.

 **-\|/-**

The rate at which the twins develop is startling. Natsuki learns to walk, run and climb months before Naruto can even stand on shaky legs.

She's potty trained, well co-ordinated and her eyes are sharp as a tack. It's hard to slip things by her without her raising some sort of fuss. She also expresses a decided interest in books a lot earlier than her brother. Often times, if she wasn't playing with Naruto, Natsuki could be found with a book in hand glaring at the characters as though willing them to make sense.

Naruto on the other hand, while not progressing anywhere _near_ as fast as his sister, is still a bit ahead of other babies at his age. He reaches his physical milestones a while after his sister however he has her beat in the talking department. Naruto makes full use of his newly developing vocabulary while Natsuki struggles with pronounciation and recognizing hiragana and kanji. More often than not Natsuki simply chooses to remain silent. Naruto does more than enough talking for both of them anyway.

 _[Natsuki is struggling to reconcile having to learn an entirely new language while still attempting to maintain her grasp on English and Spanish. She absolutely refuses to let either one of the languages die but, as a result, the varying rules of grammar and syntax which had been pounded into her head previously ends up confusing her as she tries to learn Japanese.]_

When the twins turn two they're moved into an orphanage. It's smaller and more efficiently run than most but it's still an orphanage and there's an abundance of children who poke and pry at them when they first arrive.

Naruto thrives under the initial attention whereas his sister retreats. He runs around and mingles while she stays inside, laboring through book after book while she forces herself to learn an entirely new language.

 _[But really though. Fuck Kanji.]_

She forces herself to be better than she needs to be, not because she seeks praise, but because she knows this is _literally_ the only time she will have head start she will have over the rest of her generation. Aside from geniuses like Shikamaru or prodigies like Sasuke or even powerhouses like Naruto and Kiba, Natsuki knows she doesn't have much to offer.

Naruto is a junchuuriki and, in the previous Story _[Capital 'S' because it deserved it]_ managed to get by on pure dumb luck and moxy for his early years but Natsuki knows she's not bringing much to the table. Aside from being his twin and probably having a glowing target on her back for simply being alive, she knows she doesn't have much to work with. Maybe she'll win the genetic lottery and some of Kushina and Minato's bad assery will be passed on to her but for now her sole advantage is the fact that she was born with foreknowledge of events to come and she plans on milking that cow for everything its worth.

She's not sure how she feels about the others involved in the Story, but Naruto is her brother and her immediate concern and she'd very much like it if he had an easier life than he did previously. It's not that she doesn't care about the others (there were quite a few members of Rookie 9 that she'd liked even _more_ than Naruto even) but she simply doesn't have the time or energy to waste worrying about them. She reasons if this world wanted a different Story for anyone else then she would have been born as _their_ twin but she's not. She's Naruto's and Naruto is _her's_ which means he is her priority first and foremost.

Natsuki is still unsure as to how she feels about the idea of being a ninja but she knows that she has little other options by way of careers if she truly wants to effect change in Naruto's future. Surprisingly enough she's not worried about the fact that she's going to have to get her hands dirty. She was already fairly lacking in solid morals in her previous life and it seems to have transitioned to this one as well. She'll do what she has to keep her brother safe. If she manages to keep it legal then that's all fine and good, if not, well no harm no foul. She just can't get caught.

She whispers that mantra to herself at night, just before they fall asleep. _'Don't get caught, don't get caught, don't get caught.'_

She knows she's already garnered a lot of attention with her accelerated learning curve but that can't be helped. She needs to learn things in order to be able to take control of the world around her. It's a necessary evil that, during the process, she's somehow been given the tentative label of 'genius'.

She's only three. She doesn't need that sort of pressure on her.

She's learned as much as she needs to for now at least. There are no life changing events to avoid in Naruto's formative years so she thinks she can relax a little for now. The storm is coming but all she can do for now is hunker down and wait. The rest of her preparations can be done quietly but will have to wait.

* * *

 ***Background exposition exposits***

 **As always. I'm always open to suggestions. Or just say if you liked it.**

 **-Rayne**


	3. Academy Days: Chapter 3

Natsuki doesn't remember her old name. She doesn't remember what she looked like and she can't remember the name of the place she used to call home either. She feels like this should bother her more than it actually does but she can't bring herself to care. Would knowing her old name help her live in Konoha? Would knowing the names of her old parents erase the fact that Uzumaki Kushina was the one to push her out in this world?

No. In the end they count as useless information. Good for sentimental purposes maybe, but in the end that old information is about as good for guiding her as her dead parents are in this world.

She picks and chooses what is important, sorting between what will help her in this world and what will not.

English and Spanish are very important. There's no sentiment attached to knowing the languages, she's just pleased something else _other_ than fucking kanji or hiragana to write in. Most of her writing in English gets dismissed as a child scribbling nonsense, and the added madness of Spanish gets little coos and awws which she bears with more grace than she would have had in her previous life but reasons that it helps guard her knowledge.

Feeling secure in the fact that, for now, she will be ignored and brushed off as simply a developing child making doodle, she tries her hardest to remember the things that _do_ matter to her.

She spent nearly thirty years alive in her last go around, more than enough time to amass an array of information on a variety of subjects and, as a girl of many interests, there is a lot of knowledge to pick and choose from.

She starts by attempting to reconstruct her favourite novels, first telling them to Naruto in the form of bedtime stories and afterwards scribbling them down in stolen notebooks once he's fallen asleep. She fills notebook after notebook this way and guards them jealously from others.

She remembers working in a clinic but she wasn't a doctor. She denies the title viciously. She was a physical therapist. She worked with the body in ways most doctors never even imagine. She'd crafted weak muscles, locked off joints and tendons so tight they'd hadn't moved in years into masterpieces of efficiency.

She worked tirelessly with her patients to bring them to places even they never knew they could get to. More than once she has memories of adults taking tentative steps on their own, legs as shaky as a newborn but glowing with pride as each foot touches down in front of the other.

She desperately recalls her knowledge of anatomy, her interventions and modalities. She hasn't touched them for close to three years but she had been practicing for much longer than that and well learned knowledge never truly leaves. When she's done writing, finishing an entirely new notebook in the process, she's sure she'll need to do some revision but she's pleased to note that she seems to remember most of her work.

The last thing she tries to remember, is the Story. As much as she used to love Naruto when she was a child she hadn't touched it in years. It was the first manga she'd ever started reading but had fallen out of love with it when it seemed to run on without end and began to bore her.

She'd read the entirety of the manga one last time out of pure obligation when she'd heard it was finally ending and after that had never touched it again aside from the occasional fanfiction. To say her memory of the Story is limited would be putting it lightly.

If she's entirely honest the fact that she can remember anything at all is mainly because of the characters. Even in her adult years she still remembered those few characters who resonated in her spirit as a youth and her attachment to those select few gives her just enough to work with, but only barely.

She knows that her brother is the vessel for the Kyuubi. He learns about this during a fake graduation test. He will be in a team led by Kakashi Hatake before eventually being mentored by Jiraiya and that's all she can really remember about that.

The Uchiha will die, the entire clan massacred at the hands of its prized prodigy and only one will survive: Sasuke, Naruto's future team mate. He will burn with vengeance and eventually leave the village in pursuit of power in order to kill Itachi. Something niggles at the back of her mind, telling her she's missing something _big_ but as hard as she tries she just can't recall.

She remembers Orochimaru and his attack on Konoha. She can't quite remember his motive or how he'd managed to infiltrate the village in the first place but she remembers that at the end of that arc the Sandaime is dead and Sasuke has received the curse mark. She has a vague recollection of Sasuke being attacked during the… second (?) exam but is unable to narrow it down further than that.

The Akatsuki. That was a major problem, and not so much because they were a group of rogue ninja but because they will be taking a direct interest in her brother in the future. This she remembers clearest of all.

She knows the Akatsuki is just a front, a cover for the real goal of reawakening the Juubi and Kaguya. She knows that Obito is behind the scenes, manipulating the Akatsuki and its goals and that, behind him, is Madara Uchiha and Zetsu whose goals are… world domination? Or something? Actually she's sort of vague on them. Madara was entirely uninteresting as a character and Zetsu seemed rather filler-ish so she sort of disregarded them. She regrets that now but you know what they say about the efficiency of hind sight.

She puts all this and more, including the names of the few important ninja she can remember like Tsunade and Pein, and little tid bits on their skill and motives. It doesn't amount to much in the end but something is better than nothing and at least with this she has a starting point of events she can work with.

She disregards the Uchiha Massacre. She's only a child now, not to mention one of the most disliked children in the village. Short of killing Itachi herself (which she would never be able to do anyway) there's no way she would be able to prevent the massacre. The thought is depressing.

Sasuke will have to live through that trauma but she thinks the least she can do is attempt to be a friend for him before and after. If they make it to the academy she'll seek him out, try and make nice with him before the massacre so that he has someone to connect with afterwards. It may not be enough but it could be. Who could tell?

She won't be able to know until she's in front of him so for now everything is a mix conjecture and hoping for the best.

She would try to change things in little ways at first. Being a friend to the right person at the right time, saying just what needs to be said and so on. She's a butterfly already and she has no desire to make a storm with her wings that she can't yet control.

 **-\|/-**

Just before they turn five, the twins receive a visit from the Hokage.

Well… technically _they_ don't receive a visit, the orphanage does, but Natsuki has practically mastered the art of paranoia at this point so she knows the only good reason the Sandaime has for visiting this place is to check in on them.

She stays in the shadow of a nearby tree, clinging to a book for safety, while the other children, Naruto included, clamour around the Hokage. Each child was louder than the other in their attempt to seize the Hokage's attention for themselves.

She watches as the Sandaime gives each child a warm smile and kind word but he lingers, just a moment longer, on Naruto, taking in his features with a warmth in his eyes that is there for a moment and gone the next. Naruto preens before his attention is pulled away by the matron who starts calling the children in for lunch.

Personally, Natsuki is pleased because it means she's managed to avoid any sort of intimate encounter with the Hokage, but of course the universe hates her and she and her brother are pulled aside for a 'special' conversation with the Sandaime.

She fidgets nervously while Naruto bounces in place. Both twins filled with nervous energy but for entirely different reasons.

For his part, the Hokage simply stares down at them contemplatively. Natsuki knows he's reliving the past when he looks at them. They may be twins but she'd like to point out that the laws of anime genetics are weird seeing as she and Naruto share the same Kushina shaped face plus Minato's bluer than blue eyes while somehow managing to let Naruto's hair stay bright blond while her own hair is Kushina's vivid red. The whisker markings they share only solidify the fact that they are indeed twins despite the wildly different hair colours. Logic. Where did it even go?

"Are you enjoying your time here?" he asks eventually.

Naruto and Natsuki make identical faces of disdain before changing them into something a bit more pleasant.

"It's… liveable…" Natsuki responds warily which makes Naruto huff. Recently the children who used to have no problem playing with him have begun to pick up on the less than positive vibes the adults send their way. Already Natsuki has had to fend off older kids going through her things without permission and the teasing Naruto gets on the field has slowly been moving from playful to malicious. It's small but Natsuki knows it's only a matter of time before it develops into full-fledged bullying.

"Where'd you put your hat?" Naruto asks, completely ignoring the question and setting a different mood entirely at the same time.

The Hokage blinks in surprise at the unsubtle change in subject but answers anyway. "I'm not entirely sure. I think it ran away."

The answer is ridiculous but he _is_ talking to a pair of almost five year olds. If they were normal five years old he might have probably gotten away with it but as it is Naruto is cleverer than people tend to give him credit for and crosses his arms with a huff while Natsuki gives a strained smile.

"Che! Some Hokage you are if you can't even keep track of a hat," Naruto grumbles.

"That's what happens when you get old," Sandaime responds sagely and another awkward silence descends.

Natsuki would really like to run away now.

"Have you given any thought of the future?" he asks suddenly.

Naruto frowns then shrugs. "Tomorrow is Monday and breakfast is usually eggs?"

"I hate eggs. They taste disgusting!" Nastuki can't help but complain. Donated food sucks.

A short laugh escapes the Hokage and he coughs to cover it up but the damage is done and Naruto is grinning like an idiot for making him laugh. "That's not quite what I asked but that's nice to know I suppose. No. What I meant was, have you given any thought as to whether or not you would like to join the ninja academy?"

The twins perk up immediately at the word 'ninja'.

Naruto is already imagining himself as the premier ninja no doubt. The kind of ninja who would run into danger head first, guns a blazing yet still somehow manage to save the day and get the girl. That's the kind of ninja he aims to be.

Natsuki imagines Orochimaru. She imagines a crumbling leaf village under the attack of misled Sand nin and fanatic Sound nin. She imagines her brother being attacked by Akatsuki and eventually leaving the village both for his safety and to bring his friend back. She needs to be a ninja so she can do her best against what is yet to come.

"I wanna be a ninja! Hell yeah!" Naruto exclaims, scuffing his sandals on the ground in his excitement.

Natsuki's response is slower but has no less enthusiasm. "Going to the academy is something I'd like to do."

The Hokage nods then looks worried. "You know, the life of a ninja doesn't _have_ to be the life you choose."

Natsuki scowls. She doesn't want sympathy. Where was his sympathy four years ago when her parents were sacrificing themselves so that she and her brother could live? Could his sympathy give her parents? Could his sympathy stop the Akatsuki from coming after Naruto? No. So he could shove it.

"With all due respect," Natsuki says, pronouncing each word slowly and evenly even as Naruto bristles beside her. "We can make our own choices. We've been taking care of ourselves so far and I think we've been doing decently."

The Hokage's eyebrows raise. "The orphanage-"

"Is fine," Natsuki interrupts. "But three meals a day and a roof does not make a home and it definitely doesn't make a place for us to be coddled. Hokage-sama." She tags the last part on to be respectful even though she feels anyway but.

"Yeah. We practically take care of ourselves anyway, ain't that the first thing a ninja's supposed to do?" Naruto demands. It's clear that he feels slighted by the Hokage's attempt to sway them away from the shinobi life. If anything that probably further cements his desire to become a ninja.

The Hokage nods but it's clear that he's not happy with how the conversation has turned. What had started as an awkward meeting between two children and an adult has further devolved into a cold war between the Hokage and a single unit of two determined minds.

The Will of Fire already burns bright in these two and they haven't even touched a kunai yet, Sarutobi muses to himself.

"I see. I apologise. I didn't mean to offend," he says. Naruto gives a smug huff but Natsuki isn't appeased. She lets it slide though because, really, what can an almost five year old hold over the Hokage's head?

"Apology accepted," she says primly.

"Yeah. Accepted!" Naruto repeats, crossing his arms while he does.

She scowls when it looks like the Hokage is about to laugh but he manages to hold it back and Natsuki barely resists the urge to stick her tongue out.

"Well… I can see you've clearly made up your minds about this. And you're sure. You wish to be shinobi for the leaf village?" he asks one more time.

He receives two firm nods.

"It's _all_ we want," Naruto says, deadly serious for once.

The Hokage looks them over, searching for any signs of hesitancy, before letting out a deep sigh. He reaches for his lips as though expecting a pipe to be there and his fingers close on thin air when they fail to find their target. He coughs instead to cover up the motion.

"Then I'll see to it that you get the necessary supplies," he says eventually, looking more resigned than anything else. "You'll start with the new year."

Naruto lets out a loud whoop and Natsuki grins, victorious.

They're going to the Academy.

 **-\|/-**

On their first day Naruto is an uncontrollable ball of energy while Natsuki is an uncontrollable ball of nerves. She clings to her brother's sleeve as he hops in place during the opening ceremony.

They're stuck as part of the (uncomfortably large) group of orphans starting the academy this year while the Hokage drones on and on about the Will of Fire and the importance of legacies and other things like that.

Natsuki would just really like to puke.

She did so last night, unable to contain her nerves as she brought back up her dinner in the shared toilet. Naruto didn't understand why she was so scared of the Academy, even going so far as to tell her he didn't mind if she didn't go but she waved him off with a grim smile.

She's excited to be a part of the Academy too in her own way. She can't deny she sees the appeal in being a ninja and one day being able to do feats that would have been considered impossible in her previous life, but this day also carries a dual meaning. It will mark her first day as an active member in the inevitable Story to come.

Is she nervous?

Fuck yeah.

Not for the first time Natsuki wonders if she should even be trying to change things at all. After all, the series had ended well enough for Naruto the first time around… after a fashion.

But she can't help remember the look on Naruto's face at Sasuke's departure from Konoha. She can remember the tears on his face as he was carried back by Kakashi and she knows how much that weighted on him during those three years that he'd left the village. More than anything, Natsuki just wants her brother to be happy.

She just hopes she's going about the right way to do it.

When the opening ceremony is done, the students file their way into the Academy to be assigned their classes. For a panicked moment, Natsuki wonders if she and her brother will be put into separate classes but then 'Uzumaki Naruto' is followed by one 'Uzumaki Natsuki' and she breathes a sigh of relief as they hop into their new class.

Surprisingly, Natsuki doesn't recognize any of the faces around her. Well, that's not entirely honest. She recognizes the faces of some of the other orphans, the ones from other orphanages who used they used to play with when they were younger.

Who she doesn't see are any of the Rookie Nine. She supposes it's not surprising, seeing as Naruto failed his graduation exams so many times. They would have obviously had to be a year or so below him.

But now she's confused. If they're a year below him, then how do they end up being the same age? Unless she's remembering her data wrong, Natsuki is fairly certain Naruto and the rest of the Rookie Nine are all the same age… right?

She groans and sinks her head into the desk in frustration.

"I know. We gotta stay holed up in this place all day. It sucks," Naruto laments, sharing her misery even though the two are lamenting for very different reasons.

Naruto's so obviously upset though, that it makes her laugh a little and she ruffles his head.

"We'll survive somehow little brother."

 **-\|/-**

Their first year bores Natsuki to tears.

It's all basic math, science and (horror upon horrors) history. Or at least some bastardised version of history that their senseis felt was appropriate to impart upon such impressionable youth.

 _[Ha! It's brainwashing at its finest. If Natsuki has to listen to one more story on the greatness of the First Hokage and the glory in putting the village above your own life, she'll eat her sandal. It's no wonder these kids are so casual about murder._

 _She files any and every history class under 'BULLSHIT' and refuses to pay attention to any of them.]_

Natsuki's handle on math and science is still solid and she thanks all the gods she can think of that she had the foresight to teach Naruto the basics while they were in the orphanage. It's not much, but they're ahead of the rest of the students by a slim margin. Still, it's large enough for Natsuki to feel bored out of her skull during classes.

More than once she gives in to her brother's urges to just leave the compound at lunch time and not return for the rest of the day. It's easier that way.

The kids at school have become meaner now too.

The first few weeks were fine right up until one of the parents took a close look at who exactly their offspring were playing with. The next day, a few of the kids wouldn't go anywhere near the twins and soon enough the others followed.

Even though she's an adult in everything but outward appearance, the blatant rejection by their peers still stings and she can see that it hurts Naruto even more.

Against her better judgment, they end up skipping class… a lot. They still go often enough so that Natsuki has a fair idea of what's going on but generally, if they don't have to be there then they're not.

Natsuki picks up the slack of not going to school by teaching Naruto all she can when they get home. He seems to learn better with her teaching him anyway.

"They don't teach right. They make it all boring," Naruto says one day when she asks him why he pays more attention to her than their senseis.

"Can't say you're wrong there," she mutters in reply before smacking his hand as it begins to creep toward their hidden pile of candy.

"That's for when you get this problem right!" she scolds.

Naruto rolls his eyes and makes a show of nursing the hand she hit before snatching the notebook away. "Alright alright. Gimme!"

Their first year passes quickly.

 **-\|/-**

Their second year sees a few of the Rookie Nine beginning to trickle in.

On day one Natsuki watches as a shy Hinata seats herself quietly in the middle of the class and close to the wall.

"Her eyes are weird," Naruto says quietly, watching the new students trickle in with a bit more wariness than he usually has.

"I think they're cool," Natsuki replies. Privately she agrees a little though. The Hyuuga's blank lavender eyes are trippy as fuck to look at and send shivers down her spine at how eerie they are but the girl herself is small and cute. Even the way her chakra feels is cute. It's small and the pale purple barely pings on her senses, but Natsuki compares it to a tiny kitten bumbling about for the first time.

"And she's pretty. Like a doll," Natsuki continues.

Naruto makes a face that says he obviously doesn't agree. "If you say so."

Natsuki laughs and they continue their people watching.

"Loud," is Natsuki's comment when Kiba saunters in. His chakra glows a vivid red but it isn't malicious. It's tiny and full of energy. He doesn't have Akamaru yet but he makes up for not having a partner to chatter with by letting out a loud whoop as he searches for 'the perfect spot' to sit in.

"I like 'im!" Naruto declares, grinning his little fox grin that makes him look devious and that makes his already warm chakra practically hum with mischievous intent. Of course Naruto likes him. They're birds of a feather.

Natsuki takes note as Ino, Chouji, Shino, Shikamaru and Sasuke slowly train in.

They all get varying degrees of disinterest (even though Natsuki carefully files away Sasuke's shy entry as literally the cutest fucking thing in the history of ever) until Sakura walks in.

"She's pretty!" Naruto gapes, obviously attracted to her ridiculously pink hair. Natsuki's been living in Konoha for nearly six years now but pink hair was new to her. Seriously, what was up with anime genetics? It blew her mind the shit that was allowed to happen when you were in an anime.

"Too… pink for my taste," Natsuki replies, wrinkling her nose. It's not that she dislikes Sakura. She just found her to be dreadfully boring. Character wise, most of her development hadn't happened until late Shippuden and by then Natsuki was so set in ignoring her that she hadn't even bothered acknowledging the pink haired member of team seven. Which was sort of rude, considering the fact that the girl was supposedly destined to be Naruto's future team mate but… well… what's boring is boring and Natsuki whole heartedly ignores things that are boring.

It seems Naruto is smitten though, judging by the glowing hearts in his eyes and the way his chakra is pulsing. Ahh… young love…

It was disgusting.

She's pulled out of her reverie as Yamori-sensei interrupts the new students' excited chatter.

"Alright rugrats, listen up."

The new students sit stock still in their seats while the others, like her and Naruto, amuse themselves by doodling in their notebooks.

Yamori-sensei likes to sound like a hardass but really he's just a lazy chuunin who'd much rather be anywhere else but teaching snot nosed kids. Natsuki gets it, she really does… doesn't stop her from letting Naruto occasionally spit ball him though.

"From this day on you're training to be real shinobi of the Konoha. First rule is; listen to your sensei. Second rule-"

Yamori-sensei's rant is cut off as a sizable wad of spit soaked paper makes its new home on his forehead with a solid 'splat'.

The new students are stunned but the old ones are already laughing their heads off, Natsuki included.

"Uzumaki!" Yamori-sensei menaces and it makes Natsuki cackle even louder.

"Detention! Both of you!" he barks.

She knows it's supposed to be a punishment but Natsuki can't stop laughing. Besides, a little detention never hurt anybody.

It's not like they have anyone waiting for them at home anyway.

* * *

 **Natsuki is something of an odd character for me to write now that I've gotten a bit more used to her. I've given her some fairly muddy memories and a fairly honest grip of how much Naruto I remembered when first beginning to tap this up but it's tricky trying to keep track of how much I as the author knows and what the character knows.**

 **You learn new things every day.**

 **-Rayne**


	4. Academy Days: Chapter 4

Halfway through their second year, Naruto and Natsuki are moved out of the orphanage and given their own apartment.

While initially, she rejoices in the newfound freedom, Natsuki resents a village that sees a pair of six year olds training to be killers for hire as old enough to be emancipated minors. But she also relishes the thought of no longer having to fight with children bigger than her for meals. She doesn't like it, but she'll still take it.

As is, the apartment is small and consists of one bedroom, a tiny bath and a smaller kitchen that also acts as a semi living room. They don't have much to move with aside from some threadbare clothes and Natsuki's books so the walls remain bare but it feels more like home than anywhere else.

They receive a biweekly allowance and, if they were any normal six year olds, Natsuki is sure they would have blown it on sweets and candy. Sage knows Naruto sure wants to. But Natsuki takes the role of the responsible older sister _[Is she actually the older one? She just assumes so but mentally she's older anyway so that has to count for something]_ and makes sure their little fridge is kept full of veggies and food stuff.

Naruto complains so she keeps a small container of sweets handy. Aside from that the money barely lasts from allowance to allowance. She wonders how Naruto managed in the original Story. He seemed alright by the time graduation rolled around but… well. There's no doubt that things could have been better.

Natsuki _will_ make things better.

 **-\|/-**

Despite her best efforts, Sasuke isn't an easy kid to approach.

Barely a month into class and he already has a devoted fan club that follows him everywhere.

Natsuki keeps herself firmly out of that lot but it means it's even harder to approach him without the other girls glaring her down. On top of that, Sasuke already seems to be developing a bit of an ego which makes it even harder for her to approach him.

He's an _Uchiha_ which, in his eyes, automatically makes him better than the rest. Natsuki doesn't know what that clan teaches its kids but there are times when Sasuke is just so smug that she really wishes she could punch the smirk off his face.

It doesn't help that on their second day of school Naruto calls Sasuke a "temperamental idiot who couldn't get a clue if he tried". Natsuki should have been horrified but she was too busy being proud at Naruto's correct usage of the word 'temperamental' to really care.

From that point on, however, Sasuke regards both twins with unhidden dislike and makes it his life mission to challenge everything they say and do.

Natsuki neatly side steps the budding rivalry by simply disappearing whenever she can feel the sharp sting of Sasuke's chakra enter her sensing range but Naruto lives for the challenge. Together those two end up spending more time in detention in their first month than the twins could have racked up in a whole term. She'd be impressed if she wasn't so annoyed with the fact that Naruto was potentially destroying the biggest improvement to his life Natsuki was trying to make.

Fortunately, the problem of how to approach Sasuke without seeming like either a rabid fan-girl or a total tool ends up being solved during one of their taijutsu classes.

After running a few laps Yamori-sensei pairs the students up for their first mock spar session. Officially it's so that he can assess the level of each student. Unofficially, sensei is a sadist who likes to see little kids beat the crap out of each other.

Sasuke smirks at her _[the little shit]_ as they face each other. Natsuki only knows the basics of the basics and she has no doubt that Sasuke has been trained in his clan style since he was old enough to walk. This match is seven different levels of unfair and everyone knows it but what's more fun than watching kids wail on each other, right?

It's a good thing Natsuki has no intention of playing fair. She remembers the basic lessons in self-defense she took in her last life. It won't help her for long here but she has the element of surprise on her side.

"Match, start!"

For a six year old Sasuke is hella fast but after years of chasing down Naruto through alleys and street sides, speed isn't an issue for Natsuki either. He's in her face and ready to deliver a punch but Natsuki manages to dodge and _almost_ gets a hit in on his side but he rolls at the last second with some fancy footwork and dodges. She doesn't give him a chance to pull away and is immediately in his face, delivering blows as fast as her little arms can. She gets in one, maybe two hits before Sasuke manages to sweep her feet out from under her.

She's on her back and Sasuke's grinning down at her like he already won which makes the competitive streak in Natsuki burn. She kicks out and catches him in the thigh. It's not enough to make him fall but he stumbles which gives her enough time to get on her feet once more.

He tries to follow through with another punch but in a move that's just as familiar to her now as it was in her past life, Natsuki ducks and catches his wrist. She twists her body, making use of his momentum and sends him flying over her shoulder. He lands on his back but heavier than she did and he's left dazed.

Akira-sensei steps forward and looks between the two of them with an odd look in his eye.

"Winner – Uzumaki Natsuki," he says simply. Sasuke's fan girls are wailing in disappointment and a few are even heckling Natsuki and calling her a cheater. She can hear Naruto whooping loudly in the background and jeering Sasuke for losing.

For his part Sasuke looks just as stunned as Natsuki feels. She hadn't _actually_ expected that to work.

"Make the seal of reconciliation," sensei instructs.

Sasuke's still on the ground and Natsuki offers her hand to help him up. He glares at it and, for a moment, Natsuki thinks he'll just ignore her, but is surprised when he accepts it.

They make the seal and Sasuke walks off in a huff as the other matches continue. Huh. So much for being friends.

Sasuke ignores her for the rest of the day, no doubt nursing an injured pride, and since she's beaten their beloved idol the rest of the girls make even more of a show of ignoring Natsuki than usual.

"Train with me," Sasuke demands first thing the next morning. Natsuki blinks but it doesn't look like Sasuke's joking.

The disbelief rolling off of Naruto is palpable and she's tempted to say no just to calm him down but having Sasuke approach _her_ is literally the best case scenario for her little plan. Sorry Naruto, this is for your own good, even if you'll never know it.

"Um… okay?" she allows. Sasuke looks smug like he won something before claiming the seat next to her. Natsuki's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline and Naruto's practically vibrating with rage at this point. Sasuke _always_ sits up front whereas the twins make their home somewhere closer to the back and off to the side.

This is a _very_ new development.

He doesn't leave them alone at lunch either. He demands to see her lunch box so that he can inspect what kind of food she's eating. Since she's still getting the hang of this whole traditional Japanese style cooking, Natsuki's lunch is very simple. It's plain rice and picked vegetables with chicken (that had been on sale) cooked in a very thick stew.

"My kaa-chan makes nicer bentos," Sasuke declares, planting his butt down beside her and cracking open his own lunch. Indeed it _is_ much nicer than anything Natsuki could have prepared but she's only six for sage's sake and has a much smaller budget than anything an _Uchiha_ would have access to. She's instantly bitter.

"Yeah! Well Natsuki made it herself so it's au-to-ma-ti-cuh-ly better than yours!" Naruto sneers, looking seconds away from dumping his own lunch on Sasuke's head.

"Sit down and eat!" Natsuki scolds, grabbing her brother's shirt and pulling him to the ground beside her. Before her can protest she shovels some potato into his mouth which he grudgingly chews on while glaring at Sasuke.

Sasuke's giving them a curious look that says he clearly doesn't know how to ask what he wants to know. He chews slowly for a while.

"Where'd you learn that flip?" he finally asks.

Natsuki has to swallow her food before replying. "Picked it up from the orphanage." It's a half truth. She practiced it a few times in the orphanage but she'd never shown the move off in front of shinobi before.

Sasuke frowns again and falls silent like he doesn't know what else to say. When lunch ends the twins are treated to numerous glares as the tense trio make their way back to class. Naruto glares right back, currently so pissed that he'd probably pick a fight with sensei if he had to while Natsuki just ignores them as well as she can.

"Show me that move!" Sasuke demands as soon as school is done for the day.

"No!" Naruto replies for her, grabbing Natsuki's arm and trying to pull her out the door.

Natsuki digs her heels in and forces him to stay still.

"Why should I?" Natsuki asks instead. She wants to have some sort of friendship with Sasuke sure, but she has no intentions of being the Uchiha's lap dog or gopher.

Sasuke scowls. "Because I want you to. I need to learn it."

Natsuki rolls her eyes and tightens her grip on Naruto's arm.

"If you wanna learn it, then you can say please," she says firmly. She waits for a while, expecting something, anything, but gets silence in response so she rolls her eyes again and this time puts up no struggle as Naruto pulls her away.

"Who does he think he is?" Naruto huffs. "It's because you beat him. He feels tuh-rhet-tened."

"Threatened," Natsuki corrects, even though she's proud of his attempts to add new words to his vocabulary. All the reading she does for him seems to be helping in some way. Sasuke's chakra pings on her senses as he seems to make a move to follow them.

"What do you want for dinner?" she asks, leaving room for Sasuke to approach them at his own pace.

"Ramen?" he asks, looking hopeful.

Natsuki tilts her head, thinking. They should have the funds. She's been getting better at managing their allowance so much so that they can indulge Naruto's large appetite for ramen occasionally. "Sure. But after we finish our homework!"

Naruto droops. "Man that's so boring…"

"Hey!"

The twins look back at the same time to see Sasuke lingering at the gate. He's fiddling with the strap on his bag.

Naruto's tense all over again and Natsuki is curious.

"I would like to learn that move you used on me today," Sasuke eventually manages. He sounds like he's talking through his teeth.

Natsuki's brow lifts.

"Please," he tacks on.

"I say let him hang," Naruto whispers and it makes Natsuki giggle.

"Well… he _did_ say please," she whispers back. Naruto shakes his head furiously but Natsuki ignores him as she replies. "I'll teach you _if_ …" Sasuke looks wary. "You train with us."

"What?" he sputters.

"I don't wanna train with him!" Naruto protests.

"Well you don't listen to me when I want to work," Natsuki says, sounding contrite. "And your forms are horrible anyway. And I could use some more pointers. Quid pro quo."

"Quid…?"

Natsuki giggles at Sasuke's confusion. "It means we both benefit."

"You think you have anything else that would be interesting to me?" Sasuke asks, looking haughty all over again.

Natsuki shrugs. "You're right. Lost cause. We'll just go home then," and she turns on her heel.

She doesn't even get to take a single step before she hears Sasuke sigh loudly and she knows she's won.

"Fiiiine," he drawls.

Natsuki grins even as Naruto groans in exaggerated agony. She'll let him off homework tonight and read him some more Harry Potter, or Hari; The Chosen One as she's chosen to rename it, later as an apology.

They use the Academy's open training ground.

Naruto is defiant to the last so their training session ends up turning into the biggest round of 'get Naruto to at least _try_ some work' Natsuki's ever taken part in. It doesn't help that Sasuke has the patience of a grumpy old man and the social skills of one to boot too.

Not for the first time, Natsuki wonders how much of Sasuke's loner act in the Story before was him truly being absorbed in revenge as opposed to him really not knowing how to interact with kids his age. Sasuke's smart and he knows it but that sort of self-awareness doesn't lend itself to making friends easily.

"I think we should call it a day," Natsuki finally says. The sun hasn't even set yet but having to coerce Naruto into working while also playing mediator between everyone's growing tempers is beginning to tell on her. Natsuki would just really like a nap right now.

"You didn't teach me anything!" Sasuke protests.

She glares in Naruto's direction before giving him a meaningful look. "Tomorrow," she promises instead.

 **-\|/-**

Once they leave the training ground, Naruto is quiet. It disturbs Natsuki. Naruto is never quiet.

"You okay, brother?" she asks but gets a shrug in response.

Even ramen doesn't cheer him up. She frowns over her own bowl as he pokes at the meat and barely finishes his second bowl before saying he's full. She and Teuchi share a worried look over his head.

"This one can be on me," Teuchi offers and Natsuki's smile is grateful in return.

The walk home is quiet and doesn't break until after they've showered and changed and are tucked into bed.

Natsuki hovers over her brother's curled up form, poking at the back he has turned toward her. "Naruto. What's bugging you?"

He doesn't say anything and curls up tighter. She sighs and gets up, swinging herself over his curled up form and planting herself on his other side so he has no choice but to see her.

His response is to tuck his head in his arms.

"Are you upset about today?" There's a long pause before finally, he nods.

Now she's getting somewhere. "Are you mad about training with Sasuke?"

She gets a half sort of shrug followed by a nod then a violent shake of his head.

"Come on brother, you've gotta give me more to work with." She snuggles closer, resting her chin on his arms.

"Do you… not want to hang out with Sasuke?" she tries.

Another shrug.

"Why not? We could be friends. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Naruto goes still and Natsuki knows she's done something wrong. She doesn't have the time to figure out what before Naruto finally emerges from his cocoon, throwing her off in the process.

She gasps softly at the sight of wet eyes and a quivering lip.

"I don't wanna be his friend! I don't want _you_ to be his friend! You're _my_ sister!" he wails before burying his face in his arms again.

He's _jealous_. Natsuki's mouth makes a little 'o' as the realization forms. Of course Naruto would be jealous. Despite his outgoing personality the only connection he really has is Natsuki and for her part Natsuki is a clinger. She doesn't socialize with the other kids and rarely leaves Naruto's side. Of course he would be jealous of someone else trying to butt in.

"You know I'll always love you right?" she asks, scooting closer and nudging him with her shoulder.

He sniffs but stubbornly refuses to lift his head.

"Even if I make other friends, you're still my brother and you'll always come first," she continues. "And I want to make other friends. I want _you_ to make other friends too."

"Why? We don't need them. They don't even like us…" he mutters.

Natsuki nods even though Naruto can't see it. He's not wrong but she'd rather him not think about things that way. It would be a dangerous development if Naruto simply chose to cling to her instead of pursuing his dreams as Hokage.

She tries a different tactic.

"All great ninjas have friends that they can depend on." No response. "No ninja can stand along. And you want to be the greatest don't you?" She gets a slow nod and considers it a tiny victory. "See? Then that means you've gotta try making friends too. It might be hard at first but when you have friends you can show them just how good a ninja you'll be when you grow up."

"I won't be a _good_ ninja. I'll be the best!" he declares, finally lifting his head out of his arms to look her in the eyes. She smiles and pecks him on the forehead which makes him blush but he snuggles closer instead of pushing her away.

"Good! Then that means we can try being friends with Sasuke first," she says.

Naruto still makes a face. "I'm not sure about him though. He's all stuck up and thinks he's better than everyone because he's an U-chi-ha."

Natsuki's mouth twists. "I think he's kind of like us."

At the disbelieving look that gets she hustles to explain. "I don't think he has a lot of friends either…"

Naruto scowls. "Nuh-uh. He has all those girls screaming over him all the time. Even Sakura-chan."

Natsuki shakes her head. "I don't think he likes that type of attention though. Think about it. Do you ever see him eating lunch with anyone else? And he doesn't talk to anyone during class either."

Naruto uncurls himself to think about it. "Yeah, you're right. And he never stays behind after school to play either. He just leaves as soon as the bell rings."

Natsuki is nodding. "Which means…?"

Naruto's grin is full of teeth. "Which means _we'd_ be his first friends!"

"Mm-hm, mm-hm," Natsuki agrees.

Naruto sits up, visibly burning with determination. "Which means we can't leave him alone. He'll _really_ need us so he won't be lonely."

"I wouldn't go that far," she interrupts. "Let's just try and get along for now. Okay? Since we'll be his first friends he probably doesn't know how to act which means we've gotta be super nice."

"Yeah! We can take him for ramen!"

Natsuki can't help but laugh because if nothing else, she knows that's better than a yes in Naruto's dictionary.

* * *

 **I don't understand Konoha's academy system. The whole thing reeks of plot holes. How can Naruto fail a graduation exam 3 times yet still be the same age as his genin team. It boggles my mind. Fortunately I have something in mind to deal with that little problem but still! It shouldn't be a problem in the first place.**

 **Also, writing six year olds. How does one even do that?**

 **-Rayne**


	5. Academy Days: Chapter 5

The next day, they're back at the training grounds once more for another attempt at 'training'. Naruto seems to be doing his best to get along but Sasuke, suspicious now of Naruto's friendly behavior, doesn't seem to be buying it.

"Let's just run through the movements first?" Natsuki suggests.

"Yeah."

"Hn."

Lackluster responses but you can't blame a girl for trying.

"Your leg position is all wrong," she hears. When she looks over she can see Sasuke glaring at Naruto who's quite obviously still in the middle of his warm up.

Naruto gives Natsuki a 'save me' look but she links her fingers together and mouths 'get along' with the most pleading eyes she can muster.

With a deep sigh Naruto turns back to Sasuke. "How would you do it?" he asks in a tone that sounds like he's about to have all his teeth pulled.

Sasuke blinks. Clearly not expecting such an easy victory.

"Well… It's more like this," and he slips into the correct position.

"Mmmm… Like this?" And Naruto adjusts himself accordingly.

"Not… quite…" Sasuke sighs and bites his lip. "Like this." And he shifts Naruto's leg and arm into the right place.

"Huh." Naruto sounds surprised. "That does feel better."

Natsuki's heart melts a little at the quiet exchange and she feels like doing a little happy dance to celebrate.

She takes her time with her warm-up if only to allow the boys more time to interact with each other. Sasuke seems to have been put off by Naruto's aggressive attitude the day before but now that her twin is no longer snapping at him, he seems to be opening up more and more.

Naruto soaks up the attention like a sponge. Even if he _does_ consider Sasuke to be stuck up, Natsuki can clearly see he likes having someone else to harass instead of just her. Soon they start trading insults but she can see the beginnings of a smile on both their faces and she knows she's done something good here.

"You still have to show me that move!" Sasuke demands, up in her face the instant she's done.

"Ara! Alright alright." She thinks back on the move, searching for a way to explain it.

"We're small, so we have to fight smart," she says. "I was reading in a book that, when you're smaller than your opponent you have to be able to use their momentum against them so that you have the upper hand. You're not much bigger than me," that earns a pout, "so I wasn't sure how the move would work but I'm lucky it did."

"So you never used it before?" Sasuke asks.

 _Are we talking before in relation to this life or in general?_ Natsuki muses. "Nope," she decides on, popping the 'p' for emphasis.

Both Naruto and Sasuke are staring at her with unabashed awe and Natsuki's not ashamed to say she preens under the attention.

"So basically, you secure your opponent's arm or whatever it is they're throwing at you," she continues, motioning for Sasuke to throw a punch. She stops it then shows him where she grabs his arm in preparation for the throw. "Twist your body _with_ the force of the oncoming blow," and she slowly moves her body as though Sasuke is still punching, "and use the force your opponent is coming at you with to carry through and throw." She finishes off by bending her knees slightly, placing her other arm on Sasuke's body and giving a little push.

"Obviously since you're not actually doing anything I can't flip you but that's the basic gist of it," she explains, releasing his arm and stretching her arms above her head.

"I don't get it," Naruto complains.

"Maybe if we do it a couple of times?" Sasuke suggests.

The twins nod.

"Let's get to it then."

With the amount of throwing around (or more accurately with the amount of failed attempts at being thrown that gets done) Natsuki is fairly certain she's going to be very sore come morning time but she doesn't regret it when Naruto and Sasuke are off challenging each other to see who can finish the throw the fastest.

The sun sit low in the sky, painting it in shades of pink and orange before the boys finally decide they're done for the day.

"Man, today was the best!" Naruto crows as they walk off the field.

"Maybe now you won't be such a loser." The words are mean but Sasuke's grinning and rocking on his feet looking every inch the six year old he is.

Natsuki's worried Naruto won't understand that Sasuke's only teasing but has her fears settled when Naruto breaks into a wide grin before sticking his tongue out at the Uchiha.

"You wait! I'll beat you someday and then you'll see just how great I am - ttebayo!" he declares.

Natsuki giggles and wraps her arms around Naruto and Sasuke's necks, pulling them in for a tight hug. "How about he keep doing this, yeah?" she suggests earning a pair of eager nods.

"Whoop! This really is the best day then!" she agrees, ducking both boys' heads and darting off before they can seek retribution.

"Slow pokes!" she taunts, rounding a corner at such a speed that she's unable to avoid colliding head first into the poor sap who also happened to be walking around at the same time.

"S-sorry!" she stammers, hating all the gods and the Sage of Six Paths himself because they must really hate her to keep doing shit like this to her.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke sounds pleased as punch, forgetting completely about hunting Natsuki down and barreling into his brother's open arms.

At the back of her mind Natsuki notes that, even though she's sprawled on the ground, Itachi looks like he hadn't been moved an inch by her sudden introduction to his person. He blinks down at her slowly, onyx eyes unreadable before lifting his hand and dropping it on Sasuke's head.

"Good evening, otouto." God, even his voice sounds pretty. It's entirely unfair for future psychotic mass murderers to both look and sound pretty.

She feels Naruto's chakra flare behind her in worry although he's slow to approach. To be fair, Natsuki doesn't want her brother anywhere near Itachi either. The Uchiha prodigy was meant for dangerous things and would be one of the members of the Akatsuki responsible for hunting her brother down.

The thought makes her bristle but she forces herself to remain calm and stand up instead.

"I'm sorry for running into you," she apologises, brushing herself off.

"No harm was done," he replies.

"Naruto, Natsuki! This is my nii-san, Itachi!" Sasuke is smiling so hard that Natsuki's pretty sure his face is about to split. That would be really cute if she wasn't actually so damn terrified.

"Nice to meet you," she says, hating the way her voice wavers at the last moment. Itachi's eyes narrow ever so slightly and she curses herself for being such a child.

"You have a big brother?" Naruto asks, staring up at Itachi like he doesn't know what to make of him.

Sasuke nods. "He's a super strong ninja that's always going out on super-secret missions!"

Naruto's eyes practically have stars in them. "That's so cool…!"

Natsuki winces. Idol worship of the man who's probably going to be hunting you down in the future isn't exactly what she had in mind when she started out this whole 'change the Story' business.

"You were… training?" Itachi asks, taking in their dusty clothes.

Sasuke nods. "Natsuki was showing us this really cool flip. She read it in a book and then she was able to do it!"

Itachi's eyes slide back over to her and Natsuki scratches the back of her neck, passing off her nervousness and anxiety as simply being nervous under the scrutiny of an official ninja.

"A move you read in a book?" he repeats.

Natsuki shrugs. "Yeah. I read it and practiced it by myself a few times. No big deal."

"Nu-uh! She said the first time she tried it was in a spar she had against me in class."

Sasuke's a little snitch. Natsuki's revenge will be swift and it will be severe.

"… impressive…" If Natsuki didn't know any better she would say Itachi sounds… surprised? But then he gives them the softest smile ever that just lights up his face and makes the worry lines seem less severe and Natsuki melts.

"I'm glad to see my brother is in such good hands," he praises.

Natsuki's face goes red and she scuffs her shoes on the ground. "Is nothin'…"

She hears a soft chuckle and when she looks up he's looking at all of them and giving the group a considering look.

"I'm here to pick up Sasuke. He's not usually this late. Mother worries," he explains and Natsuki shrugs.

"Lost track of time. Won't happen again."

Itachi nods and settles his grip on Sasuke's shoulder more firmly.

"You should get home too. Your parents will worry."

Sasuke winces and Natsuki curls her fingers tighter into Naruto's shirt.

"No they won't," is her soft reply before she's tugging her twin away. She pretends not to see Sasuke's wide eyes and that she doesn't feel how tense Naruto is under her hands.

 **-\|/-**

Unexpectedly, the twins turn into triplets.

Well… she supposes it's not _entirely_ unexpected. After school training becomes a norm for Naruto, Natsuki and Sasuke and the three basically spend all their free time in or out of class with each other anyway so when they start being grouped together for assignments and activities, Natsuki isn't all that shocked.

What she's _is_ surprised by is how much she enjoys Sasuke's company. Don't get her wrong, Sasuke is a cute kid and surprisingly better at conversation than either the manga or anime gave him credit for, but Natsuki had intended for him to be _Naruto's_ friend. She'd wanted them to form a bond early so that Sasuke would think twice about revenge and leaving the village. She'd completely forgotten to consider the fact that she was still a constant presence in Naruto's life and that, by way of having no other friends, any friend of Naruto's became a friend of hers' too.

Still... she's not complaining. It's nice having someone else to harass and tease. She likes having a third person in their little sibling arguments about which type of ramen is the best. She even likes being teased by Sasuke about her less than spectacular attempts at cooking _[but she's getting better. And she'd like to see him try half the stuff she manages to put together]_.

She has a friend now and… well… she likes it. A lot.

But with two very different personalities to balance, Natsuki finds herself stuck in bit of an odd place. School still bores her to tears and she still desperately wants to give in to Naruto's whims to ditch classes whenever he wants, but Sasuke refuses to miss even one lesson. And because Natsuki is just as competitive as her brother she's loath to miss classes if only because they now present opportunities to show off on the Sasuke.

Yes she's a full grown woman picking on a six year old. No she's not ashamed because she's _winning_ dammit!

Her taijutsu improves immensely as well. She's a bit of a cheater in that she supplements her training sessions with Sasuke with her own workouts and stretches at home, but she doesn't complain when the results mean she's now first in class for taijutsu.

Even Hinata, the only other person in class aside from Sasuke with enough training to be a real threat, isn't much of a challenge any more. Natsuki makes ample use of her flexibility and stamina to out maneuver the Jyuuken and claim her victory the few times they're paired up. Soon even taijutsu class bores her.

The chakra exercises they've been given don't excite her much either.

She's been learning to control her chakra since she was an infant. At this point her chakra control is probably well into genin level. She sticks the leaves they've been given to practice with on to various parts of her body with ease and works on making it dance across her fingers while Naruto and Sasuke struggle.

"Why is this so easy for you?" Sasuke asks. Naruto's tongue has become a permanent fixture between his teeth as his leaf keeps falling off his forehead. Sasuke has a bit more success. His leaf stays on for a few seconds before falling off again. In comparison, he's way ahead of the rest of the class but his eyes are on Natsuki who is making her leaf lazily flip flop across her forehead.

She shrugs in response. "I guess I just have a better feel for chakra."

She wonders if this would have been so easy if she hadn't been born with her memories. Blurry as they are, her memories still serve to keep her a bit apart from the rest of the population. While these children have grown up with chakra, even taking it for granted, Natsuki is constantly in awe of the living energy that surrounds them.

As bothersome as it can be sometimes, she's even happy for her chakra sensing. It hurts her head occasionally when she passes too close to a jounin on the street and their much larger chakra stores make her head vibrate at the sheer amount of it all, but it still amazes her.

She came from a world where chakra had been considered junk science. Hippy medicine at worst and meditation tactics at best. In this world she feels like she's been given the keys to the kingdom in terms of chakra and she constantly plays with hers just to make sure it's real.

She can feel the warmth of it humming just underneath the surface of her skin. It's alive in its own way but responsive, so responsive, to her thoughts and intentions. She can feel it move with her emotions; flaring up when she's angry, becoming warm when she's happy or shrinking away when she's sad. Sometimes she just sits and lets it fill up her body, making her feel warm in a way she just can't describe because she doesn't have anything else to compare it to.

She really loves chakra and isn't shy about hiding her control over it in front of her sibling and friend.

"You're doing well, Uzumaki-chan," Yamori-sensei praises. Natsuki scowls. He could sound a little less surprised.

She gives him a blank look and makes the leaf stand on its apex just to prove a point. Yamori-sensei blinks rapidly before making a note of something on his clipboard. He gives Sasuke an impressed nod while Naruto earns a slight frown before moving off.

"What's giving you trouble Naruto?" she asks once sensei has walked off.

"I dunno. I don't feel like I'm getting it…" he mutters, shredding the tip of his leaf.

She taps his hand to make him stop. "What exactly aren't you getting? How much chakra to use?"

He makes a face. "More like I have no clue if I'm using my chakra at all."

She frowns and pulls in her chakra making her leaf flutter to the ground. Even without the Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto has a vast wealth of chakra of his own at his disposal. She would understand if he couldn't control it, but not feeling it at all? Unconsciously she starts biting her lower lip as she worries.

"Come here, let me try something."

Sulking, Naruto sets his leaf aside and scoots closer. Natsuki curls her fingers around the nape of his neck and pulls him closer until their foreheads are touching. Then she takes a deep breath, closes her eyes and just… _feels._

Once her sight is out of the way it becomes easier to focus. The bright spots of chakra that represent her classmates jump out at her so fast that she's momentarily confused. She shoves them aside and focuses on the chakra before her. Usually bright and warm, now Naruto's chakra is swirling oddly. It feels hesitant and uncertain.

Slowly, she expands her chakra, letting it fill her body before making it flow to the point where their heads are touching. She can practically _see_ the moment Naruto feels her chakra for the first time. His own responds by brightening and, whether he wants it to or not, it surges up towards the shared point of contact to meet hers.

She can't hold back a gasp as their chakra mingles. It's only for a second, but it feels like someone melted pure sunshine and brushed it gently across the very essence of her being. She's not sure if chakra can tingle but it sure feels like hers is as she pulls her chakra back and slowly pulls away as well.

She blinks a few times, uncertain about what just happened or how she managed to instigate it.

"Was that my chakra?" Naruto's eyes are wide and Natsuki's certain that hers are no less so. She just nods dumbly.

"And that was yours too, wasn't it?" he demands, growing more and more excited now.

She gives a helpless shrug and Naruto giggles. "It felt… cool? Like… whenever you make me shower on a really hot day. Different but… nice!"

"You felt… warm. Like sunshine…" she admits.

"That's so cool…" he whispers, full of awe.

A nervous little giggle spills forth before Natsuki can control it. Then another… and another and soon she's giggling madly into her hands. Naruto looks surprised but soon he's laughing right alongside her too.

"I think I can get it now!" he says. His voice is quiet but full of steely determination.

Natsuki just nods and the twins separate. Sasuke is looking at them oddly but Natsuki just shakes her head and gently shoves him with her shoulder. He sniffs and looks away like whatever just happened was none of his business and she swipes one of his pens in retaliation. He'll get it back if he notices it's missing.

"I think I got it!" Naruto exclaims. Sasuke and Natsuki turn just in time to see Naruto's leaf stick firmly to his forehead for a full second before falling right off once more.

In the grand scale of things it's a small victory but Naruto's beaming so brightly than Natsuki's worried his face might split from the force of it. Sasuke's shaking his head and calling him an idiot but the smirk on his face is genuine.

Natsuki's smiling so hard she thinks she might never stop.

* * *

 **I'm enjoying playing around with Naruto's Academy years. There's so much you can fiddle with!**

 **Also, many thanks to those who commiserated with me and trying to understand the Naruto universe's oddness.**

 **-Rayne**


	6. Academy Days: Chapter 6

"Where'd you get all these books from?" Sasuke asks, running his hands along the spines of the novels Natsuki had taken her time to sit down and remember, then re-write and re-cover so they'd last longer.

For the first time in their friendship, the twins have invited Sasuke over to their home. It hadn't even been Natsuki's idea. They'd been training at school as usual when a sudden burst of rain had chased them out.

Naturally, Naruto had suggested Sasuke wait out the rain at their apartment since it was way closer than the Uchiha compound and Sasuke had jumped at the opportunity to see how his friends live.

Natsuki's given Sasuke an old pair of Naruto's shorts and an even older shirt that's hanging on by a whim and a prayer. If he has anything against the state of the clothes he's in, Sasuke has said nothing and has simply made himself at home, wandering around their tiny apartment. Naruto is more than happy to provide running commentary on any and everything Sasuke stops at.

"Nowhere. Natsuki wrote them all," Naruto declares, smug as smug can be. He's sitting at their little table nursing a cup of hot chocolate while the rain pours outside.

Sasuke's eyes resemble saucers as he steps back to appreciate the size of the bookshelf. To Natsuki it isn't all that big but her perception of big in terms of bookshelves is a little skewed seeing as her ideal bookshelf more closely resembles a small bookstore than the small one they crammed into their apartment.

"You wrote all this yourself?" he repeats, openly gaping now.

Natsuki shrugs, a bit uncomfortable at the attention. "Yeah. I have really vivid dreams and I turn them into stories," she explains, fiddling with her own mug of tea.

Sasuke gives her a hesitant look, fingers twitching.

"Can I…" and he gestures to the wall.

"Sure, go ahead," she encourages.

"I say go with Crystal Universe!" Naruto declares, bounding up beside the other boy and pulling out a relatively thin book. "It's about these guys that are aliens from another planet! And they came to earth as rebels in a huge war because their original planet wanted to suck the earth dry and make their own fighters! But then they team up with ninjas and kick butt!"

Sasuke's eyes are practically sparkling with wonder as he takes the book from Naruto. He hold it gingerly, like it's made of something especially fragile and breakable, and sits down at the table before flipping it open and beginning to read.

Naruto opens his own book, Hari, the Chosen One; Secret of the Firebird's Order, and Natsuki hums with contentment into her tea.

This isn't how she imagined her new life turning out, sitting down with Uchiha Sasuke and her twin Uzumaki Naruto while they read what are essentially walking copyright lawsuits, but she's glad that this is where they've gotten to. The future ahead promises many a struggle but for now there is quiet and they're allowed to enjoy a little peace.

She'll take what little she can while she can get it.

 **-\|/-**

One day, Sasuke comes to class and begins acting odder than usual. He's hesitant all day and begins sentences then forgets them halfway.

"You're actin all funny," Naruto points out over lunch. Normally that would make Sasuke growl and the two would start up loud but (generally) friendly banter as to who's more stupid than who but not today.

Instead, Sasuke blushes and sets his bento aside.

"Actually, I have something to tell you guys," he admits.

Naruto keeps eating but Natsuki makes a gesture with her chopsticks to encourage him to keep talking.

"Kaa-san wants to meet you this evening. She's inviting you to dinner."

Naruto tilts his head and frowns. Natsuki drops her chopsticks.

"Kaa-san as in… your mother?!" she asks, incredulous. "Why does she want to meet us?"

Sasuke shrugs and looks uncomfortable. "I may or may not talk about you guys _a bit_ and now she wants to know who my new friends are."

Natsuki stares at him for a moment more before picking up her chopsticks again and shoveling more food in her mouth. It's just to give her something to do because she hadn't been expecting _that_. An invitation to the Uchiha compound? She's not sure what to make of it. Even Naruto is uncharacteristically quiet.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Sasuke hurries to say. "But… I'd like you to?" and he looks so hopeful that Natsuki doesn't know how to say 'no' without feeling like the bad guy.

She looks over at Naruto who looks uncomfortable.

"Do we have to… _do_ anything?" he asks, looking like Sasuke has just asked him to swallow something highly suspect instead of being invited over for food.

Sasuke shakes his head. "Just show up. And look nice!" he instructs.

The first part of those instructions is easy. The last part… not so much.

When classes are over Sasuke leaves early, saying he needs to help his mother with preparations for the evening. The twins wave him off before returning home themselves.

"I don't think we _have_ nice clothes," Natsuki muses, trying to recall what's in their closet.

"Do we have to?" Naruto whines. He had been the one to tell Sasuke yes they would come but Natsuki could see him regretting his choice as the day wore on.

"We already promised Sasuke. And what kind of friends would we be if we broke a promise?" she chides even though there's nothing else she'd rather do than avoid the ordeal altogether.

She hasn't had the… pleasure… of running into Itachi again after their last encounter and Natsuki had been hoping to avoid him entirely. The sheer level of his intelligence intimidates her and she's not sure how well she can keep her innocent 'I'm only a six year old' act around him. Plus there's the fact that he's destined to slaughter his entire clan. And the additional fact that the Sharingan had once been used to control the Kyuubi so there were many a reason for Natsuki wanting to keep both her and her brother away from the Uchiha. But she couldn't just say no.

Aside from Sasuke being their friend, the Uchihas are an old clan and a pillar in Konohagakure's history. It would be something akin to political suicide to refuse an offer like this. The twins already don't have many friends and Natsuki isn't willing to risk their friendship with Sasuke over something as trivial as a dinner so they're going and that's that.

Natsuki sighs. Not for the first time she wishes she was just a normal six year old. Normal six year olds didn't have to plan their lives around future murderers and rogue ninja. They just have to worry about homework and making it through Yamori-sensei's training sessions without throwing up. But being normal is also boring so really it's a toss-up.

She'd go for normal right about now though.

"We are poor," she mourns as she pulls out the best set of clothes they have and sets them aside. Almost all of their clothes are second hand and even the ones that aren't haven't been treated kindly. The twins are still children and no matter how much Natsuki can fuss or fight, she can't stop Naruto from hopping around in mud or playing in puddles. And she certainly doesn't just sit down and take it whenever they're being bullied by older kids. The amount of torn pants and shirts she's had to mend already is ridiculous but it's worth it whenever they emerge victorious.

It does leave her slim on pickings though. The best she can do is a less worn pair of pants that have managed to stay mostly blue with a plain grey shirt for Naruto, and a simple dark blue dress for herself. She forces Naruto to take a long bath, scrubbing his back and behind his ears while ignoring his protests. Attempting to tame his wild blond locks is a battle she has long since stopped trying to win so she settles for giving it a light brush and allowing it to do its thing. Her own hair is brushed out and pulled up into a high ponytail. She allows a few strands to fall forward and frame her face hoping to look as cute as possible.

When they're done, they lock up the house and, as slowly as possible, make their way to the Uchiha compound.

The guards give them funny looks as they approach.

"Um, we're here to see Uchiha Sasuke," Natsuki announces.

Realization dawns on their faces.

"So you're the little guests we're supposed to be expecting," one of them teases. He looks young but already he has signs of crow's feet along his eyes.

"We're not little!" Naruto bristles.

"Sure sure. I'll take you in," crow eyes says.

They get a lot of stares as they walk through the compound. Natsuki imagines guests are a rare thing in these parts as dozens of onyx eyes turn to inspect them as they make their way through. They must make quite a sight, a brilliant blond and vibrant red head in a sea of dark locks. It makes Natsuki's skin prickle.

This is the exact opposite of everything she's ever wanted to do. She tries to pass under the radar. Now she's at the centre of attention. She sinks into Naruto's side, miserable already.

"Just knock and you'll be fine," the ninja who's been leading them instructs once he's brought them to one of the fancier houses in the compound. It looks exactly like one of those old fashioned Japanese houses that you would have seen in a magazine back in her old life. She feels even more uncomfortable now because obviously the people inside are going to be so much classier and so much better off than they are. Even the door looks fancy.

She's glowering at the wood while Naruto steps forward and knocks. The door opens immediately and Natsuki would bet her entire novel collection that the woman behind it has been waiting for them since they arrived at the compound gate.

Uchiha Mikoto is a quiet sort of beauty. Her face is warm and welcoming and framed by the ebony locks so common to the Uchiha yet she manages to stand apart from the other women Natsuki had passed. Her eyes smile gently down at the twins, taking them in with a quiet sort of eagerness that makes Natsuki wary, but doesn't cause the hair at the back of her neck to rise so she thinks they're safe.

"Good evening. You must be Sasuke's friends," she greets. Even her voice sounds soft. It's the kind of voice that belongs to someone who would bring you sweets and cookies or rub your head when you're sick.

"Good evening," the twins greet, both a little stunned by the Uchiha matriarch.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto sounds confident and he presents their gift.

"I read it's rude to come over to dinner without bringing a gift," Naruto declares, proudly presenting a little baby cactus. It's one that he's chosen from his personal collection of potted plants and Natsuki thinks it's adorable.

From the look on Mikoto's face, so does she.

"I'm Uzumaki Natsuki," she introduces, presenting a gift of her own. It's a newly written collection of her version of the His Dark Materials trilogy. Its pure coincidence that she'd finished transcribing them recently but she thought they would make a nice gift.

"Such well-mannered guests. I know a lot of adults who aren't half as polite," she says, accepting their gifts with another smile. Natsuki is in a losing battle with a blush and can feel it burning her face. Mikoto stares at them a little longer, taking them in as though she just can't get enough of them before stepping aside. "Come in. Sasuke's inside helping to set out some things."

"Thank you for inviting us," Natsuki says as they slip off their sandals in the genkan.

Naruto is still staring so Natsuki nudges him into action. "You're really pretty," he blurts.

Mikoto laughs and simply ushers them into the dining where they can see Sasuke setting plates.

"You're here!" He almost drops the plate he's holding when he spots them but fortunately he has the sense to set it down properly before darting over to Naruto and Natsuki.

"We promised, didn't we?" Natsuki teases.

Sasuke's grin is excited and he looks like he's practically bouncing in place.

"Why don't you show your friends your room?" Mikoto suggests. "Dinner still has a little time before it's done."

"Right!" Sasuke doesn't hesitate to take Naruto and Natsuki by the hand and drag them up the stairs to his room. Natsuki is surprised at the unhidden enthusiasm in the young boy.

While young Sasuke is nowhere near as reticent as his older counterpart it's still a strange sight to see him as animated as he is now. He's much more inclined to letting Naruto be the loud, active one of the group.

"This is my room!" he declares, sliding the door shut as they enter.

"Woah! This is wa~ay bigger than our room!" Naruto breathes, gawking at everything. Just because he can, Naruto hops on Sasuke's bed and bounces a little on the plush mattress. "Nicer bed than ours too," he pouts.

Not for the first time Natsuki feels a pang of resent towards Konoha. This is the son of their legendary Yondaime and here he is comparing mattresses with his best friend because he and his sister are too poor to afford a better one. She hates it and sinks her nails into her palms as she tries to hide her bitterness.

"D'you like it?" Sasuke sounds uncharacteristically shy.

It takes effort, but Natsuki unclenches her fist and turns a genuine smile to her friend.

"It's great," she says and she means it.

"I think it's great that you don't have to share a bed!" Naruto says and Natsuki scowls at him.

"You kick in your sleep!" she huffs.

Naruto bristles. "And you hog the blankets!"

"I used to roll off the bed when I was smaller," Sasuke admits.

"I would roll off but that's only because _Naruto_ would kick me," Natsuki commiserates, sticking her tongue out at her brother. He bares his teeth in return and Natsuki is tempted to tackle and noogie him into submission but it would ruin their clothes. She'll get revenge later.

"Sasuke? Kaa-san is calling us down."

Natsuki only barely avoids freezing up at the low voice in the doorway. Itachi is leaning against the door frame and giving them a fond look.

How long has he been there? Natsuki didn't sense him approaching at all. Even now when he's right before them, Itachi's chakra is muted and difficult to make out. Sort of like opening your eyes underwater. She can tell something is there but she can't quite make out the details. Is this the skill of an ANBU level shinobi or is Itachi just that good?

"You got it, nii-san!" Sasuke chirps. Seriously, it's eerie how good a mood Sasuke seems to be in.

They wash up as instructed before they're allowed to take a seat at the dinner table.

Uchiha Fugaku is as imposing as the head of the Uchiha family should be. Natsuki's not sure if the stern set of his mouth is his default setting or whether it's been learned but it makes him look severe, especially when sitting next to his wife. Itachi takes his seat on the other side of his father leaving the seat beside him empty.

Natsuki assumed that seat would have been filled by Sasuke however he seems determined to not have his friends be isolated at the end of the table which is uncharacteristically sweet of him. Instead he sits himself directly opposite his father leaving the seats on either side free.

Naruto is quick to claim the chair next to Mikoto which leave Natsuki sitting next to… Itachi… wonderful.

She focuses on keeping her breathing calm as she settles in and the food is passed around.

"Why did you choose to approach my son?" Fugaku asks while they fill their plates. Well this one doesn't waste time does he? If this was her old world Natsuki feels Fugaku wouldn't have looked out of place stroking a shotgun while chewing a pipe.

Natsuki feels Mikoto's chakra spike in what seems to be irritation and she carefully measures out her rice before passing it on to Sasuke.

"Actually, Sasuke approached us," she offers eventually when it looks like neither of the boys will say anything.

Fugaku's brow raises and she feels a faint hum of surprise coming off Itachi as well.

"And what caused that?" he prods.

Natsuki winces and she glances at Sasuke. He looks… resigned but still unwilling. She bites her lip but Sasuke gives her a shrug that reads 'do what you gotta do' so she goes for it.

"I… beat him. In our first spar."

A beat of silence.

"And how did you manage that?"

"She used a move I'd never seen before," Sasuke interjects and Natsuki throws him a look of relief. "It was a really cool flip. She said she'd read it in a book and then she used it in our fight. I asked her to teach it to me afterwards. That's how we started talking."

Fugaku hums thoughtfully. Silence falls as everyone starts eating with a quiet 'itadakimasu'.

"Are you enjoying the Academy?" Mikoto asks, breaking the silence.

"It's boring," Naruto says and Natsuki wishes her legs were long enough to kick him.

"Boring? How so?" Itachi asks.

"It's all math and boring stuff that sis taught me ages ago. Only the taijutsu and chakra control classes are interesting," he huffs, going back to eating.

All eyes are on Natsuki now and she shifts in her seat. Maybe if she stares at her fish long enough it'll get up and start dancing and she won't have to say a thing.

"You taught your brother mathematics?" Mikoto sounds so surprised Natsuki feels like she should be offended.

"Yeah. I used to read a lot in the orphanage. There was nothing better to do," she explains. "So whatever I learned I used to teach Naruto."

"She helps me with a lot of stuff too," Sasuke puts in.

Fugaku actually puts down his chopsticks to inspect her more. "And you said you defeated my son in your first spar with a move you learned in a book?"

She nods meekly.

Fugaku narrows his eyes at her. Natsuki hears a dull 'thump' and Fugaku's eyes widen a fraction before glaring at his wife. Mikoto returns the look in full force until finally Fugaku backs down and picks up his chopsticks once more.

"That's very impressive," is all he says as they continue eating.

"What kind of ninja are you?" Naruto asks, directing the question to Itachi.

Natsuki risks a look to the teen next to her and finds him giving her brother a soft smile.

"I'm a chuunin," he responds.

It's not hard to fake the awe on her face at the declaration. He's a chuunin already? But isn't he like, 13?

"How'd you become a chuunin so fast?" Natsuki asks.

Dark eyes turn to her and Natsuki can't hide the instinctive flinch that comes with it. "I graduated early."

"He's a shining example of what a shinobi should be," Fugaku praises. The pride in his voice isn't hard to spot.

Natsuki makes a face but continues eating so she won't have to say anything.

"I wanna be a great shinobi too!" Naruto puts in. "As a matter of fact, I'm gonna be Hokage someday ~ ttebayo!"

"Che! As if!" Sasuke teases. "If anyone's gonna be Hokage then it'll be me!"

"I think that's a wonderful goal to have," Mikoto encourages. Her husband's face said he clearly didn't think so which made Natsuki clear her throat.

"I think Naruto would be a great Hokage," she declares.

Mikoto's giving her this faraway look again, like she's seeing someone else and not Natsuki. She shakes it off quickly enough though.

"Eat your vegetables, Sasuke," she chides, bringing the conversation around to something a bit more normal.

"You too Naruto," Natsuki scolds, watching her twin sag at the reprimand.

Both boys grumble as they pick at the vegetables they were oh so cleverly trying to hide under the remains of other food. Natsuki grinned and picked up a carrot, munching on it happily. Those two were so similar no matter how much they protested it.

The rest of dinner passed uneventfully, with more idle chatter about school and other nonsense.

Itachi's interest had been piqued when Sasuke mentioned Natsuki's above average chakra control so after dinner, once the plates had been cleared and washed up, she was asked (read: forced) to show the rest of the Uchiha family what little skill she had.

"That's an impressive amount of chakra control for someone your age," Fugaku comments as Natsuki makes the leaf, slightly smaller than the one they used at the Academy, do cartwheels across her forehead.

She shrugs. As much as people like to comment on her control she really doesn't see anything impressive in it. After years of playing with her chakra as an infant and honing it to improve her chakra sensing skills, she's come to view her chakra as the fifth limb she never had. Like a tail of something.

Training it had been like when she'd first learned to walk in her new body. First beginning by slowly flexing weak muscles and learning what moved what before moving on to larger movements and then smaller ones.

She lets the leaf fall into her hand and flicks it aside when she's tired.

"I think we need to go now," she says, noticing Naruto yawn and barely stifling one herself.

Fugaku actually looks surprised for a moment. Like he forgot he had been inspecting a seven year old.

"Right. It is getting late," he muses. "A little too late for children your age to be walking around alone. Itachi will make sure you arrive home safely."

"… thank you…"

 **-\|/-**

The walk home is quiet. Itachi isn't a man of many words and Naruto is half asleep the whole way. By the time they get to their apartment, he's practically dead weight on Natsuki's shoulder and Itachi has to lift him into bed.

"Just leave him. He can change in the morning," Natsuki instructs, biting back a yawn as she walks Itachi to the door.

It might not keep out any determined ninja but Natsuki sleeps better knowing that the door is locked and the deadbolts are drawn.

"You don't like me very much," Itachi says making Natsuki blink sleepily at him while she tries to understand the sentence. When she does she sags heavily against the still open door. She's not nearly awake enough for this conversation.

"Do you _need_ a six year old to like you?" she asks.

He tilts his head. "I would prefer if Sasuke's friend likes me."

Such a big brother complex. Sleepiness and the general not giving a fuck attitude that comes with it is creeping into Natsuki's brain making her more talkative than usual.

"You creep me out," she says honestly. "And when I look at you I see a bright spot surrounded by a lot of darkness."

The look on Itachi's face is hard to categorize but Natsuki calls it wary. She gives him her blankest look aided by the fact that she's bone tired and really just wants to sleep.

"You're unnerving and I don't like being unnerved," she settles on and makes a very visible effort to close the door. "Thank you for walking us home." She can't be entirely rude now can she?

Itachi isn't quite glaring but she can tell he's taking her a lot more seriously than he had been before. Greaaat.

"You're welcome," and he turns and walks away. She watches him go, disappearing into the darkness of the hall before shutting the door and locking it tight.

* * *

 **To outsiders who knew Minato and Kushina, when they look at Naruto and Natsuki I imagine they have something of a mild seizure. Naruto's basically a carbon copy of Minato and Natsuki's basically a mini Kushina. Difference is they both have whisker markings.**

 **Naruto's also a lot more like Kushina though, behaviour wise at least, while Natsuki definitely takes after Minato. Sort of begs the question of whether traits are hereditary, environmental, or situational, doesn't it?**

 **-Rayne**


	7. Academy days: Chapter 7

_The world she's in is familiar but at the same time not. The houses are different from the ones she's grown used to seeing in Konoha – bigger and bulkier and with lots of yard space. Most of the yards have trees that are big, not quite as big as the Hashirama trees which protect Konoha, but are fluffy and thick and laden with fruit._

 _She blinks up at one from her place on the ground. She's leaning against one of the trees in an unfamiliar yard. A bunch of fruits hang just out of reach but Natsuki makes no move to get them, more curious about this place's conjured._

 _This is a dream, a startlingly vivid one, but a dream nonetheless. She's no stranger to odd dreams, being who and what she is many of her memories have come to her in dreams, but none quite like this._

" _ **You should take one. They're really good."**_

 _A fruit lands in Natsuki's lap. She's on her feet in a flash, clutching the fruit like a weapon and glaring into the tree where the voice came from._

" _Who's there?" she demands._

 _The tree rustles and she can make out a figure moving through the branches. It's clearly a civilian, movements too stiff to be a ninja, but a civilian very used to taking residence in foliage._

" _ **You know who I am,"**_ _the voice chides. It sounds like the person is laughing at her and it makes Natsuki's teeth grind._

 _She gets a flash of hair, dark, thick and curly, before she's blinded by sunlight. She squints, trying to get a better looks but it feels like the more she tries the less she manages to see. The light gets brighter and brighter until Natsuki's forced to shut her eyes entirely but still the light burns through her eye lids._

" _ **You'll remember me soon enough**_ _," is the last thing Natsuki hears as the light takes over her vision._

 _Then it's gone._

Her eyes snap open but instead of trees and ridiculously large yards she sees a blond head that's managed to find its way onto her stomach.

She blinks dreamily at her brother, watching him drool onto her stomach. Morning light is beginning to creep in through the window and she sighs before closing her eyes again. She's not sure what the dream means, if it means anything at all, but she's not going to let it stop her from sleeping in on a Saturday.

Before she knows it, Natsuki's out like a light once more.

The rest of her dreams are of odd things like ninja on the moon and a unicorn with fire for a mane but no more people hiding in trees or strange villages that seem familiar to her yet not.

 **-\|/-**

Dinner with Uchihas soon becomes something of a norm. First they're invited over once a week, then twice and then three times. One weekend the twins end up spending the night and when Mikoto finds out that the twins are living on their own without a regular supervisor coming to check on them she practically blows a gasket.

The Sandaime is going to get an earful of Uchiha when the morning comes and Natsuki's glad she won't be anywhere nearby when that goes down. Something tells her Uchiha Mikoto's calm exterior hid a wicked temper that Natsuki would hate to be on the other side of.

A few days later Sasuke tells them they have an open invitation to the Uchiha compound and after that they're there almost every day.

They forego the Academy's training ground for the Uchiha clan's much nicer private training fields. Sasuke seems ecstatic and encourages Naruto and Natsuki to come over so often that soon enough the twins are spending more time at the compound than at home.

If Fugaku or Mikoto mind then they're not saying anything. As a matter of fact, if Natsuki's gut is right, Mikoto seems downright pleased to have the twins over so often.

At first Natsuki is wary. The Uchihas are legendary in their reclusiveness and they don't allow strangers on the compound often so the twins receive many an odd look during their first few visits. But as time passes the rest of the clan becomes so used to the twins coming and going that they even get a few 'hello's whenever they stop by.

Naruto is smiling more than Natsuki's ever seen him smile before and, if she's entirely honest, so is she. They no longer have to deal with people scowling at them on the road, not when they're always accompanied by the heir of one of Konoha's most influential clans.

For the first time in a long time things are going well.

Which of course is when things change.

 **-\|/-**

"Uzumaki Natsuki?"

Natsuki pauses halfway out the door already, and glances back at Yamori-sensei. Naruto and Sasuke halt in their tracks, puzzled by her sudden stop.

"Yes, sensei?"

Yamori-sensei tucks his book away and leans against his desk. "May I have a word with you?"

Natsuki exchanges confused looks with the boys.

"Want us to stay?" Sasuke offers.

"Nah, it's alright. You go ahead. I'll meet up with you at the compound."

"You sure?" Naruto pushes.

She shakes her head. "I'll be fine. You guys can start early."

Sasuke pouts but doesn't argue. "If you say so," and the boys go their way.

"You've been spending a lot of time with the Uchihas," Yamori-sensei notes.

Natsuki gives him a wary look. He doesn't _seem_ like he's harbouring any ill intent. His chakra seems curious and nothing more.

"I guess," she replies quietly.

"Have they been giving you any extra exercises? Perhaps with your chakra?" he inquires.

Natsuki makes a face. "No." The thought of Fugaku or Itachi lending a helping hand is laughable. They're more the type to turn you in the right direction but then watch you struggle and make your way on your own. It's not mean, per se, they just don't believe in holding your hand through the learning process.

Yamori just nods. He looks like he had been expecting that answer anyway.

"You've been making impressive progress these last few months. Much better than any of the students in your year. I'm sure you've noticed."

Natsuki's nod is hesitant, not sure what this is all about.

Yamori makes a face and puts his papers away. "I'll be honest. I believe your progress has advanced beyond the level of this class. To keep you here might as well be a punishment if you advance any further."

"So… what are you suggesting?" she asks.

"I've already put in a request for your transfer into an older year," Yamori announces.

Natsuki's bag hits the ground hard as her hands fall slack in shock.

"A- A transfer?" That's ridiculous. She more skilled than the boys no doubt but no way is she an entire _year_ ahead.

"A formality but a necessary one I think," Yamori says, waving aside her disbelief. "You have the option to refuse but I strongly insist that you take some time and think about what a transfer could mean for you." He rests a hand on her shoulder and she brushes it off.

"I won't leave my brother behind!" Natsuki protests.

Yamori sighs and rubs his eyes. He takes a seat on one of the desks and motions for Natsuki to follow.

Still not trusting him, Natsuki sits but keeps a good distance between them.

"I know you think you need to stay with your brother, but you must learn to think of yourself now and again," he begins. "What benefit does staying in a year that does nothing to meet your needs give you?"

"I'd graduate with my brother!" she declares without hesitation.

Yamori's eyebrow raises. "And what next?"

Natsuki falters.

"There's no guarantee that you'll be placed on the same genin team. As a matter of fact, siblings are rarely if ever placed together. Do you plan on babysitting your brother all your life? What about your own goals in life?" he demands.

Natsuki winces. Her goals in life _are_ all about babysitting her brother. Making sure he's safe from the Akatsuki, keeping him and Sasuke out of harm's way. But Yamori has a point. It's not feasible to believe that she'll always be with Naruto. He's destined for team Seven with Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi. She doesn't have a place in that future.

Seeing her wavering, Yamori reaches over and roughly messes up her hair. She hisses and bats his hands away in retaliation which makes his brow raise again and Natsuki feels a blush at her over reaction creeping up her neck.

"Think about it some, brat. You're smart. Maybe a little too smart for your age even. You'll know what you need to do." He makes one more swipe at her head, cackling as she hisses again before ushering her out the door.

"Go do things brats your age do. You're too serious for our own good!"

Natsuki sticks her tongue out at him.

Meddling old chuunin…

 **-\|/-**

"What did sensei want you for anyway?"

Naruto and Sasuke don't look like they've done a lick of practice since Natsuki left them. She's hard pressed to say she minds, especially now that she's had a little time to think on what exactly she's been offered.

"I was… Sensei thinks I should be moved ahead by a year." She doesn't mean to say it, but pure disbelief makes it come out in a rush.

Sasuke drops the blunted kunai they've been playing with lately and Naruto's gaping.

"Seriously! A year! That's so cool!" her brother crows, leaping down from the top of the training post and tackling Natsuki in a tight hug.

"Yeah… cool."

Natsuki frowns at the less than pleased reaction from her friend but doesn't get a chance to focus on it seeing as she has Naruto yelling at her now.

The disturbed frown on his little face unsettles her and she's not sure she'll deal with it.

 **-\|/-**

"You were suggested for a transfer?" Mikoto looks surprised at the news. Natsuki nods solemnly as she presses the last of the dough into a perfect ball and sets it beside the rest. Aside from her training sessions with Naruto and Sasuke, which Fugaku has taken to occasionally sitting through, Mikoto seems to have taken it upon herself to improve Natsuki's cooking. So far Natsuki has learned the proper way to make onigiri, suffered through making homemade noodles and even managed to master the perfect omurice.

It's not the Ritz but Natsuki likes being able to make more than just stew and rice with karaage. Plus spending time with Mikoto is fun in a way she never thought would be. She's kind but firm and doesn't treat Natsuki like a child the way everyone else seems to. Seeing as she raised Itachi she's no doubt used to odd children.

"Sensei thinks I'm progressing too fast for my class. He thinks it would be in my best interest to move up a level so that I'm 'being properly challenged'."

Yamori has taken to ambushing Natsuki at random points during the day to ask whether or not she's made up her mind. Truthfully, she hasn't but being hounded every day doesn't make her feel any more inclined to decide one way or the other. Out of pure spite she's debating not giving him an answer until after this year's final exams but that would mean dealing with his annoying visits for two more weeks.

"What do the boys think of it?" Mikoto asks, washing her hands.

Natsuki makes a face as she checks the pot to see if it's boiling yet. "Naruto's excited. He thinks it'd be cool to have someone to teach them advanced stuff. Sasuke has been… well… he's been pretty quiet about it…" she admits.

Mikoto nods. "It's because you've become something of an idol to him," she reveals.

Surprised, Natsuki almost lets the whole set of dough balls he'd been getting ready to boil fall into the pot but catches herself in time.

"Me? But I'm not all that impressive," Natsuki denies, a solid flush creeping up her neck.

Mikoto chuckles and helps her put the rest in the pot. The two step back and admire their work while Mikoto sets a timer so they'll know exactly when to take them out.

"He idolizes you," Mikoto starts again and Natsuki really wishes she'd let the topic drop, "Because you're so independent."

Natsuki frowns and Mikoto ruffles her hair gently, an act that only she can get away with.

"You're the same age as him but you and your brother live alone without any adults to help," she says.

"Then why doesn't he idolize Naruto too?" Natsuki asks, not seeing the logic.

"Because anyone who looks at you two knows you're the one who takes care of him. You cook, you clean, and you work all without someone having to tell you. Not to mention that, despite all that, you've managed to showcase your natural skill at the shinobi arts," Mikoto explains. "Yet for all that you're still friends with him and you don't make him feel like he has to live up to any particular standard. Considering his older brother… that is something new to him."

Natsuki shifts, uncomfortable with the praise. "The dango's floating," she says instead of answering.

"And we leave it for a few more minutes," Mikoto replies smoothly.

The silence that settles is heavy and Natsuki isn't sure what to say or if she should even be saying anything.

"I didn't… I'm not saying any of this to make you uncomfortable. I just wanted to let you know that… you're a very hardworking girl and I think it's very admirable all the things you've managed to accomplish." Mikoto pauses and looks like she's struggling with something. Eventually she gives in and kneels before Natsuki, taking the girl's face in her hands.

Natsuki can feel callouses on Mikoto's hands, the ones that were obviously gained through years of service as a ninja. _Being a shinobi leaves its mark_ , she wonders absently as onyx eyes meet azure.

"I just want to say … _I think_ … that your parents, whoever they may be, would have been amazed to see all that you've accomplished so far and would be proud of the person you are." Natsuki tries to swallow but it's hard to do so around the lump that's formed in her throat.

"For that reason. I need you to think about what you're being offered carefully, but don't consider your brother or Sasuke's feelings. Think about your own and what you want to accomplish with your life." Mikoto's grip on her cheek tightens but doesn't pass the boundary into uncomfortable. Instead it becomes more like a grounding force.

"You have the potential to be a great shinobi. Maybe even greater than your – than the Yondaime himself." She says it with such conviction that it take Natsuki's breath away as she comes to a stunning realization.

Mikoto _knows_. Natsuki had forgotten about it, caught up in avoiding Itachi as much as possible but, Kushina and Mikoto used to be friends, best friends even. Mikoto is one of the few people in the village who _knows_ who her parents are but because of a stupid gag order from an even stupider Hokage she's not allowed to say a damn thing!

If it wasn't for the fact that Natsuki had tricked Sasuke into approaching them of his own accord then they would have never met. Mikoto would never have met the children of her closest friend and the twins would never have had someone as kind as Mikoto to help look out for them.

Gratitude and resent swirl in Natsuki's stomach, leaving a sour taste in her mouth.

Mikoto's eyes have gone a little misty and Natsuki has to blink rapidly to keep tears from clouding her vision, but they never look away from each other. Natsuki keeps her eyes on Mikoto's as shaky hands raise to touch the ones resting on her face.

"I… I hope so…" Is all Natsuki can manage unless she wants to risk turning into a ball of mush in the middle of Sasuke's kitchen. Mikoto sniffs, smiling wetly before rising to check on the dango.

The moment is broken and both of the kitchen's occupants take a moment to gather themselves before returning to the task at hand.

"These should be done. Let's try our hand at making the sauce next, ne?" Mikoto suggests, plucking the dango out of the water.

Natsuki just nods and joins Mikoto at the counter once more.

They work quietly, but if Natsuki pauses every now and again to quietly grip Mikoto's sleeve for a few moments, there's no one else in the kitchen to call her out on it so she'll keep doing it for as long as she's allowed.

 **-\|/-**

At school the next day, Sasuke is quiet. Well, quieter than usual. Not exactly sad but he's stuck deep in thought and the twins have no clue how to pull him out of his head.

"Mind sharing what's got you so down?" Natsuki asks in the break between classes.

Sasuke rests his chin on his arms and pulls on a worried frown. "A friend of Itachi nii-san's died the yesterday. He's been pretty sad and I don't know who to deal with it."

"You were… close?" Naruto hedges.

Sasuke shakes his head. "Not really. He was nii-san's friend but he would stop by the house every now and again. But dad's been all weird since it happened and even mom's been acting funny. I don't know. I feel like something bad's gonna happen."

Neither of the twins know what to say. Natsuki takes one of Sasuke's hands in hers and squeezes it tightly while Naruto bumps shoulders with him. Sasuke's eyes close and he squeezes her hand in return.

Something heavy settles in her stomach and stays there for the rest of the day. Something has changed… but she doesn't understand what.

 **-\|/-**

Long after school has ended Yamori is surprised to hear a quiet knock on the classroom door. He blinks stupidly at the door, trying to pull his head out from the papers he'd been marking.

"Come in?" he calls, wondering who it could be at this time of the day.

He's no less surprised at the vibrant red hair that pokes itself through the door with an uncharacteristic meekness and situates herself before the teacher's desk.

Yamori sets his pen down and folds his arms as he takes in the little Uzumaki brat with eyes that are steady and bright with determination. "I take it you've come to a decision then?"

Natsuki nods once, firm and sure.

"I'd be happy to take the advance."

* * *

 **I debated for some time putting these three in the same team but, aside from personal preference, them being on team 7 wouldn't have progressed the plot in the direction I want it to go. Who knows what the future teams will look like though. Naruto certainly isn't the dead last he used to be without Natsuki and Sasuke around. Well, we'll see.**

 **Drop a comment and let me know what you think of the story so far. Even a 'cool story' is appreciated.**

 **-Rayne**


	8. Academy Days: Chapter 8

Despite her misgivings about the move, she's met with a lot less fuss than she expects. Naruto pouts for a little while when he realizes that she'll no longer be in any of his classes but gets over it quickly to show off to the rest of his class about how amazing his twin is.

Natsuki watches her brother carefully for any signs of jealousy or resent but he shows none. Not that she was really expecting any. Naruto's too pure a soul for something like that to bother him for long. Instead it seemed to inspire him to focus more on his work and his chakra control. History remains a bust for them both but Natsuki wasn't placed a year above for her knowledge on Konoha's trading routes or memorizing all of the previous Daimyo's love affairs. She'll manage.

Sasuke is a little bit harder to deal with. He seems stuck between not wanting anything to do with her and at the same time clinging to her every word whenever they meet up in the evenings to hang out.

After a solid month of the silent treatment and a lot of 'give him time' conversations with Mikoto, apparently something changes because Sasuke corners her before one of their sessions to say, "You're gonna need the head start because I'll pass you anyway."

If those words had come from anyone else then Natsuki probably would have felt the need to punch them (she still sort of wants to punch him anyway), but seeing as it's Sasuke it means she's probably in the clear. He won't out and out say 'congratulations' because then that means admitting that she's better than him but making a new rivalry? That's definitely right up his alley.

Unfortunately, the change in class time means she spends less time with Sasuke and her brother than before.

Their lunches are at separate times which means Natsuki has to go through the entire process of making friends. The thought makes her balk.

She has no _clue_ how to make friends, much less be friendly with a bunch of kids who are (physically) older than her and who regard her with less respect than gum at the bottom of their sandals. She's always had Naruto to be her buffer when interacting with others so she ends up being alone with no clue how to change her situation.

Not having any friends weighs on her even more when she realizes that training with Naruto and Sasuke has become more beneficial to them than to her. It's only when they team up against her that they win their spars and Natsuki feels it's unfair to them in a way.

Sasuke's still determined to beat her and ends up harassing his brother more than usual for extra training time. Itachi is quick to dismiss his little brother but Natsuki has to suffer through a short but intense 'congratulations' speech on her move up from both Itachi and Fugaku.

Itachi's speech had been somber yet encouraging whereas Fugaku's had a more 'aspire to greatness or die' vibe to it. Both left Natsuki's skin crawling and sitting with Mikoto afterward for a nice cup of tea.

But back to the problem at hand.

Friends.

She has none. And for the first time in her life, Natsuki feels lonely.

She stuffs her mouth full with her lunch and ignores the hollow feeling in her stomach as the other children not so subtly avoid her. She can feel a few of them staring at her whisker markings and making fun of her hair and feels self-conscious.

If Mikoto were here she would say something about needing to have a steel spine and Fugaku would mutter about not listening to children but Natsuki only curls up tighter and finishes her lunch quietly.

This advanced placement isn't all it's cracked up to be. But at least the classes are fun. And because of her skipping a year she gets to start basic ninjutsu, and genjutsu way earlier than Sasuke or Naruto.

For her first ninjutsu class they cover the Bunshin or Clone Jutsu. Unlike Naruto's favoured Shadow Clone Jutsu, the clones created by the Bunshin were just illusions meant to throw an opponent off for a few valuable seconds.

"This is the ideal starter jutsu because it will allow you to learn how to build up your chakra and transform it in a way that requires less skill than the Henge or Kawarimi do," Kanzaki-sensei explains.

If Natsuki weren't so excited for this particular lesson it's highly likely she would have fallen asleep by now. Kanzaki-sensei is a chuunin with green hair that reminds Natsuki of moss and who has a personality and enthusiasm of moss to match. Everything the man says and does feels like it's been run through molasses and every class is a struggle to stay awake.

She'll never say it out loud, but Natsuki misses Yamori-sensei and his meddling ways. He made sure she was never bored even if she didn't always appreciate it.

When the explanations are finally over with, each student is given time to attempt the jutsu on their own.

"Remember, build up your chakra and then transform," Kanzaki-sensei drones as he glides from student to student. The way he moves gives Natsuki the impression of a particularly sleepy bug bumbling from tree to tree.

She giggles at the thought but is pulled out of it by a stern cough and a sleepy glare.

Sheepishly giggling, she makes the appropriate hand signs, closing her eyes and welling her chakra inside her. She can feel it building and humming underneath her skin.

 _Build then transform._

She repeats the words like a mantra.

 _Build…_

Her chakra swells and her skin prickles uncomfortably. Is that supposed to happen? She's not sure but she's too far into the jutsu to stop now.

 _Transform!_

Pain. Rippling throughout her entire body starting from that prickling layer of energy just beneath her skin. It tears out of her making Natsuki scream at the feeling as all her energy leaves her body in a sudden rush.

Her knees buckle, suddenly unable to hold her weight. Fluttering eyes barely make out a panicked Kanzaki-sensei racing to her side as the world tilts but then her head collides with the ground with a loud 'crack' and the world goes black.

 **-\|/-**

The first thing she sees when she wakes up is a dull white ceiling. Cheap fabric scratches where it rubs against her skin and she tries to shrug it off but her movements are slow and sluggish. It almost feels like she's wearing weights while underwater. She blinks sleepily, brain rushing to catch up with the rest of her body and the smell of disinfectant creeps into her nose. She's in the hospital. What exactly did she do that sent her to the hospital?

She pushes herself upright, hand shooting out to balance herself as the movement sends her world spinning. What happened? Last thing she remembered she was in class making her first attempt at the Bunshin no Jutsu. She remembers gathering her chakra, pushing it through the gates in preparation for the creation of the clone and then… nothing?

Outside the door to her room Natsuki can feel a vicious spike in chakra and the muted sounds of people arguing. An audible groan slips past her lips as a sudden wave of nausea rushes to meet her and she gags a little, fighting the urge. Throwing up is never a good thing to do and leaves Natsuki feeling worse after the fact.

The door slams open and Natsuki flinches at the sound. Yamori stomps in looking mad as hell. His eye is twitching in a way that usually means someone's getting detention for a week.

"When was the last time you went to the doctor?" he demands.

Natsuki tilts her head trying to let the question sink in. When it registers she shrugs. "Not since we lived at the orphanage." The move doesn't make her head spin so she considers it a win.

Yamori sneers and looks back at the shinobi dressed in white who followed him in. A medic nin, Natsuki notes, and not any who she's familiar with. Not by the feel of his chakra at least. Then again Natsuki was more familiar with the nurses than any of the actual medics.

"As I said before, while it's regrettable the blame cannot be put at our feet. The orphanage should have been more diligent in bringing their children in," the medic declares.

Yamori is three seconds away from taking that stupid hat the nin is wearing and shoving it down his equally stupid throat so Natsuki speaks up.

"The orphanage didn't really care about us. The less resources we took up the better."

And isn't that just sad. Yamori grinds his teeth at the amount of effort it takes to not curse in front of his old student. And said student doesn't even look like she cares. For all intents and purposes she looks like she's talking about the weather and not criminal levels of child abuse.

The medic looks uncomfortable and coughs quietly. "Good afternoon, Uzumaki-san. I'm Tanaka Isada. You collapsed this afternoon during class while practicing your ninjutsu, correct?"

"I'd assume so but seeing as I was unconscious the whole time and just woke up I don't think I'm the best person to ask," is Natsuki's dry reply.

Yamori laughs while Isada adjusts his collar in embarrassment.

"Yes. Well. It would seem that, despite your advanced levels of chakra control, you suffer from a very tricky combination of conditions," Isada explains, ignoring the rebuke.

Natsuki frowns. "That doesn't sound promising."

Isada nods. "Indeed. Despite your age and skill it would seem your chakra reserves are much lower than they should be. In addition, I'm sorry to say that your chakra coils seem to be poorly developed."

Natsuki's breath stutters as lead makes its new home in her stomach. She wonders if it's possible for a heart to stop beating but at the same time beat too fast because that's what hers is doing right now. "My… my chakra coils are what?"

"Poorly developed," Isada repeats and just hearing the words again makes Natsuki want to cry. "They're not conducting your chakra as efficiently as they should thus making your attempts at ninjutsu a lot more difficult than it should be."

Yamori sighs and rubs his eyes. "This is my fault. This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't recommended that damn advanced placement."

Isada shrugs. "Perhaps, perhaps not. In a case like this, without constant monitoring or prior knowledge of her condition an outcome like this would have been an eventuality."

"Is there anything I can do to treat it?" Natsuki demands. A diagnosis like this practically sounds like a death sentence to her and her career as a ninja.

Isada shakes his head and Natsuki's hope plummets. "Considering your current level of chakra and comparing it to the efficacy of your chakra coils, I doubt you'll be able to attempt any E-rank jutsu for a while. As a matter of fact, with a condition like yours one might say it would probably be better to give up your career as a shinobi entirely."

"You shut your mouth this instant!" Yamori growls but the med nin doesn't back down.

"It may not be what you want to hear but it is the truth."

Natsuki stares at her hands, tracing the lines of her palms as Yamori-sensei's chakra spikes in agitation. This won't be the end for her. She refuses. She absolutely refuses.

Nails bite into flesh as she clenches her fists. "Give me the best case scenario. Absolute best, if any and every thing about my training goes right."

She hears Isada's sigh of frustration. "Absolute best case scenario? D-Level Jutsu, maybe even one C-Level if it's the only jutsu you do that day, but that's granted your chakra control is absolute. Not a scrap of chakra wastage, not a single trace of chakra travelling where it doesn't need to go. Only the exact amount of chakra required for every single justu and then… _maybe_ … you could have a normal career as a shinobi."

A whole lot of work for a whole lot of maybe. She flexes her fingers, one after the other, weighing her options. Lots of green, a whirlwind of leaves and shining white teeth come to mind and cements her decision.

"So it's not that I won't be able to do the basic jutsu, it's that I'll have to have _perfect_ chakra control in order to do them, correct?" She needs to be absolutely certain about this so that she can adjust her training and goals appropriately.

Isada-san shakes his head in a resigned sort of way before nodding. "But it's a lot more complex than I think you understand. This sort of control is far above your level. Most shinobi don't even-"

"Well I'm not going to be like _most_ shinobi," Natsuki spits, cutting off the medic without a hint of regret. "And there's nothing _complex_ about it." She glares at the wall, seeing it but not taking it in. She has her eyes set on the future, a plan already forming. It's simple really. It's all so simple but he's just too dull to realize it.

"You said I'll need perfect chakra control in order to be able to pull of those jutsu. I _need_ to be able to do those jutsu in order to pass the graduation exam, therefore the answer is simple." She locks eyes with Isada and he has to fight against the instinct to take a step back at the steel in her gaze. "I just need to have _perfect_ control over my chakra so that I can pass my genin exams and become an official ninja."

Isada lets out a frustrated huff. "You say it as though-"

"It is what needs to be done therefore I will do it," is all Natsuki says with a tone of such finality that Isada has a hard time finding the will to contradict the child.

Yamori watches on, fiddling with his flak jacket and looking impressed at the little girl that used to be his student sitting ramrod straight in the hospital bed. He's seen _jounin_ with less conviction than this girl. And the way she said it, so clear and precise as though perfect chakra control is the simplest thing in the world makes Yamori almost believe that it is.

He wants to whistle at how well cowed the doctor is and he can't believe he's in awe of a seven year old.

This one will go far.

Despite everything (or maybe because of everything), she'll go far.

 **-\|/-**

Natsuki doesn't tell Naruto or Sasuke about her condition. She's discharged before school is over so she's able to slip into class to collect her things and meet the boys downstairs at their usual spot under the tree without them being any tipped off that she had been gone for most of the day.

They walk to the Uchiha compound and Naruto and Sasuke start arguing over something trivial but Natsuki doesn't have the energy or the heart to run her usual act as mediator. Already the weight of what she's learned that day has settled on her and casts an ominous shadow on the days and years ahead.

She just wants to go home, cry and sleep before she has to face a new day and construct a new plan of attack. Admittedly her previous plan consisted of little aside from 'make friends with Sasuke', 'prevent Sasuke from leaving the village' and 'try not to get pulled into T&I for questioning when they realize you're not a normal little girl' but she'd taken for granted her ability to use at least the basic tools of being a shinobi.

Now she has to adjust. The only good thing about her diagnoses is that it came early enough to give Natsuki time to adjust, recover and regroup her mental faculties.

The boys notice something is wrong but she tells them she's just tired from her classes which seems to appease them. The excuse doesn't work on Mikoto as the Uchiha matriarch takes one look at Natsuki's dull eyes and pulls her into the kitchen while the boys play with dulled kunai and shuriken.

"What happened?" she asks, and in that moment, surrounded by the warmth of the kitchen with the smell of green tea filling the air and Mikoto's hand resting gently on her shoulder, Natsuki breaks and tells her everything the medic said.

"Oh dear." Mikoto pulls Natsuki into a tight hug and strokes the young girl's hair while she cries.

By the time she's done, Natsuki feels exhausted and is completely embarrassed at the sight of the wet spot she left behind on Mikoto's dress.

"Feeling better?" Mikoto asks, brushing a lock of Natsuki's hair behind her ear.

Not trusting her voice, Natsuki simply nods. She reaches for her tea but the cup has long since gone cold so she leaves it alone and fiddles with the hem of her dress instead.

"I can tell by the look on your face this won't stop you from becoming a ninja." Mikoto doesn't approves but the Uchihas are legendary for many things, their stubbornness being one of them. It's not hard to see the unrelenting glint in the child's eyes despite their redness from tears previously shed.

To confirm her suspicions, Natsuki shakes her head and Mikoto resigns herself to another lost cause.

"I'll teach you a few new chakra control exercises. It seems you'll definitely need them."

Natsuki's smile is tentative and Mikoto ruffles her hair roughly, taking out a little bit of frustration on the little red-head. She's reminded of another equally stubborn red-head and thinks fondly on what her old friend would have thought about her daughter and the path she's chosen.

Mikoto can only hope she's doing the right thing and that Kushina would have approved.

* * *

 **Yep. So I did that. I have reasons for it, mind you, but they won't be revealed until waaay later. And no she won't spontaneously develop her chakra until she can use nin or genjutsu on a regular. This is something that has been done and will be a constant for her.**

 **So, let me know what you think?**

 **-Rayne**

 **P.S:** **I have a tumblr now.**

 **theraynealchemist. tumblr. come**

 **I'm super original. Come yell at me or whatever. I don't bite. Often.**


	9. Academy Days: Chapter 9

Natsuki is fairly certain the world is against her. Her chakra control has been on the fritz lately. As impressive as it is to make a leaf do tricks she's found herself struggling with the new exercises Mikoto has given her.

She's moved on from sticking leaves to her body to trying to keep tiny drops of water from falling of her hands. The chakra control required to not only keep the water on her skin but also make it keep its own form is ridiculous and more often than not Natsuki ends up with wet hands instead of the little drops secured on her finger tips that she should have.

At this rate forget E-level jutsu, she's going to be a professional hand washer.

She sighs into her dango as she finishes parceling them off and sticking little containers with syrup in them. This is the first batch she's made without help from Mikoto and she thinks they've turned out well enough. She's actually very proud of the colourful little balls of dough and can't wait to see if Mikoto approves or not.

"Naruto, you coming along?" Natsuki asks as she ties two of the boxes together.

She gets a firm head shake in return. "I wanna finish settin' these up," he says, holding up the trick lanterns he liberated from the Academy's storeroom. For all the changes in the Story so far, Naruto is still as much of a trickster now as he was before.

"Che! Figures that's what you finally focus on," Sasuke sneers. Natsuki smacks him as retribution and Naruto sticks his tongue out at the other boy. She doesn't know why Sasuke's pretending he isn't curious to see how this new prank of Naruto's works out. Underneath that high and mighty act is a seven year old just as devious as the twins but without the track record to back it up.

"I'll be back in a bit, then we can work on the rest of them together," Natsuki announces, checking the boxes and one more time to make sure they're secure.

Naruto's already absorbed in his work, pouring some sticky concoction into the lamps so all she gets is a distracted nod while Sasuke waits impatiently at the doorway. She gives Naruto a kiss on the forehead that he waves off, nearly spilling whatever it is he's made on the floor and they're off.

The night is darker than usual. Despite the full moon it's hidden behind thick clouds. Light and shadow play oddly in the streets and alleys but neither of the children running through the streets notice.

For once, Sasuke is in the lead as they race back to the Compound. Natsuki would be more upset except she's worried that all the excess movement will ruin her sweets.

"Sasuke! Wait up!" Natsuki calls, almost dropping the boxes in her haste to keep up.

"You're just mad cuz you're losing!" Sasuke taunts but slows to a stop at the Compound entrance anyway.

"If the dango is all mushy because of all this running I'll hit you!" she threatens. She takes a peek at her sweets and they seem fine so she gives a pleased nod.

"Hey, the guards aren't out." Sasuke sounds worried.

She hadn't noticed at first but since Sasuke pointed it out Natsuki does note the unusual absence of the clan guards.

"Was there a meeting or something?" she asks. She's unsettled by this odd development. The Uchiha always have at least two guards on duty at the entrance. Not seeing anyone there doesn't sit well with her and, by the looks of it, doesn't sit well with Sasuke either.

The two exchange worried looks before entering the compound, this time at a more subdued pace. Falling into old habits, Natsuki finds herself reaching out for Sasuke and hanging on to his sleeve for support. He moves and knocks it off but takes it in his so they're walking hand in hand instead.

"Where is everyone?" Sasuke asks as they pass the shops and stores. They shouldn't be open, not at this time of the night, but usually there are people lingering about discussing politics or business in the fading light. These are the people who always give Naruto and Natsuki polite waves if they leave the compound later than normal but the streets are empty. Not a familiar face in sight.

Alarm bells are going off in Natsuki's head. The hair at the back of her neck is standing on end and she has Sasuke's hand in a vice grip. Normally the Uchiha compound buzzes like a hive at the back of her mind. Their combined chakra all clustered in one area gives her the constant impression of sitting right next to a lit bonfire, except now the fire is out.

Realization creeps in from the corner of her mind and Natsuki knows with horrible certainty why there are no guards out front.

She's a fool. She's a fool and a traitor but worse yet she's a horrible friend because, despite all her safe guards and constant warnings… _she forgot_. She'd forgotten about Itachi. She's been lulled into a false sense of security after being accepted into the Uchiha household. She'd forgotten about the tension in the Uchiha clan and their building resent towards Konohagakure. She'd forgotten about the planned coup d'état and the fact that Itachi would eventually snap and be the one responsible for the mass slaughter of his clan.

"We should go get someone." Natsuki's voice wavers as she tries to tug Sasuke back towards the gate.

He hesitates and, for a moment, she thinks maybe – _just maybe_ \- he won't have to live through this but then-

"Kaa-san! Tou-san!" and he's gone, wrenching his arm free and tearing off toward home before she can stop him.

" _Fuck!"_ Without stopping to think about it, Natsuki's running after him as well. The box that had been so important minutes ago is tossed aside in favour of speed as she follows her friend.

She almost stops when she runs past the first body.

He's lying face down on a patch of dirt that's darker than the rest of the ground around it, but Natsuki knows who it is. Uchiha Touru. Taller than most Uchiha and he runs the local bakery. He would slip the twins a few extra treats occasionally, if he was in the right mood, and wave off Natsuki's worries with a wink and a loud laugh.

Now he's dead and the sight of it makes Natsuki's blood run cold.

She wants to stop but she forces her feet to move faster. No doubt seeing these bodies has only pushed Sasuke onward and she can't let him get away. She tucks her head down and keeps her eyes firmly focused up and ahead of her so she can't see any more of the bodies. It doesn't help. If anything with every dark form she passes on the ground her dread only mounts.

"Kaa-san? Tou-san? Itachi nii-san?" The door to the Uchiha main house is wide open and Nasuki can hear Sasuke calling out for his parents inside. She's right behind him, nearly tripping over own feet as she scrambles to find him.

She sees him fling open the door to the living room and run in. She doesn't hesitate to follow and is just in time to see Itachi's blade cutting through Mikoto's body.

Mikoto's eyes widen for a second, in recognition and surprise, right before the light behind them fades and her body hits the ground.

Something wet spatters across her face and Natsuki can hear someone screaming. It's her. She's screaming. But she can't stop. And she can't stop the tears from flowing as Fugaku's body joins Mikoto's on the floor moments later.

"… nii-san?" Sasuke's voice trembles over the words. "What are you _doing?"_

Itachi turns to them, eyes red and Sharingan spinning.

All the energy leaves Natsuki's body in a rush and she falls to her knees. Beside her, Sasuke is rigid. Whether it's with fear or fury she can't tell because, as much as Itachi's eyes terrify her, it will only be worse if she looks away.

"I'm freeing myself," Itachi replies. "From the confines of this clan." Itachi shifts, adjusting his body to face them better and the move makes the moonlight glint off the bloody steel of his blade. Natsuki feels more than sees Sasuke flinch beside her but she still can't move. At this point it feels like she can barely breathe.

Her heart is pounding so hard in her chest it feels like it will burst out at any minute. She knows she's not pulling in enough air to even remotely calm herself down but she just can't seem to get herself together long enough to form the commands to force herself to do _anything._

Short panting gasps are all she can manage but it's not enough. Itachi takes another step and Natsuki's breath stops entirely.

This is it. She dies tonight. And there's nothing she can do to stop it.

But then her sight is full of blue, blocking Itachi from view. It's Sasuke. He's standing in front of her, arms spread and shielding her from Itachi. He's shaking, she can see it in the lines of his shoulders and the way his fingers tremble but he's resolute.

"You won't hurt her!" Vaguely Natsuki registers that, despite his trembling, Sasuke doesn't sound scared.

No.

He sounds… _mad._

Maybe it's the fact that she's so scared at this moment that her brain isn't functioning properly, but Natsuki thinks she literally _feels_ the moment when Sasuke breaks from the Story and changes.

In another world Sasuke trains late into the evening all by himself. In another world he comes home, alone, and in time to see his beloved older brother murder their parents in cold blood. In that world Sasuke is confused, lost, angry and broken.

In another world, this moment is when an avenger is born.

But this isn't that world.

"You won't hurt anyone else!"

No. This is the world where Sasuke is friends with two children as clever as he is, one of whom he respects more than anyone else in the world. This is the world where Sasuke has been transformed into a tiny ball of concentrated fury, still aimed at his brother yes, but this time backed by the determination that he _would not_ hurt his friend!

In _this_ world, this is the moment a _defender_ is born.

"Natsuki! Run and get help!" Sasuke commands.

The sudden command is enough to snap Natsuki out of her terror induced panic attack.

"No!" she protests, rising to her feet and taking a stand beside him. She takes a deep breath and looks Itachi dead in the eyes, summoning all the hate she can and pouring it into one vicious look. "I'm not leaving you here alone with _him_!" she spits.

"If she runs, I'd just hunt her down," Itachi says. His voice is so calm and the words are said so simply, as though he's talking about picking flowers and not cold blooded murder of a child the same age as his brother.

Itachi shifts and his blade glints in the moonlight. Unable to help herself, Natsuki looks at it. It's still smeared with blood.

 _Mikoto's_ blood _._ It hasn't even dried yet…

Natsuki can't fight the tears beginning to spill all over again because she just can't seem to grasp the fact that Mikoto, the woman whose apron she'd been crying into no more than a week ago, is lying dead in a pool of her own blood.

"You're not hurting anyone else!" Sasuke growls.

Itachi's lips pull into a slow smile, one she's never seen before that makes Natsuki want to curl into a ball and die. "You can't stop me."

His body flickers and Itachi disappears.

 _Duck!_ A voice whispers. The hair at the back of her neck raise and Natsuki tackles Sasuke down and out of the way seconds before they hear Itachi's blade slicing the air where their neck had been.

"You always were a surprising one," Itachi muses, glaring down at the two friends clinging to each other.

Sasuke shrugs Natsuki off and scrambles to his feet. "So what? You're gonna kill us too?"

Itachi swings his blade toward them and Natsuki tries to pull Sasuke back but he's dug his feet in and refuses to move. The sword comes to a stop right in the middle of Sasuke's forehead and Natsuki swears her heart is in her throat.

"Killing you… there would be no value in killing the likes of you," Itachi says and removes his blade. "You're weak and not worth tasting this blade."

Sasuke's trembling again. "I hate you. You killed our parents… our clan… and you threatened my friend… I'll never forgive you. I hate you! I'll kill you myself!"

Itachi tilts his head. "Do what you will." It's a clear dismissal if Natsuki's ever heard one but then his eyes flicker and his Sharingan lights up except it looks nothing like any Sharingan she's ever seen before.

Something stirs inside her, a fear more primal than anything she's ever felt, and with it an unbridled fury. She can't control herself as a feral snarl unlike anything she's ever done before rips its way out of mouth.

Even Itachi looks surprised for a moment, as the sound comes with a wave of killing intent that makes his hair stand on end and actually forces him to take a step back.

Natsuki is moving on instinct now, her chakra sense suddenly flaring to life with stunning accuracy and vivid detail. She can feel the chakra in _everything._ She can feel Sasuke's chakra, young and immature but full of potential, trembling beside her. It stinks of fear.

She can feel Itachi's chakra, every minute detail of it. The way it runs and shifts just underneath the surface of his skin and how it all pools around his eyes as it fuels his Sharingan.

She thinks she even feels the chakra in the earth _around_ them.

Her own chakra swirls around her, rising from somewhere in her gut in response to her desperation and fear. She feels it filling her muscles and giving them a strength she never knew they could have.

If she could see herself from an outsider's perspective then Natsuki would be able to recognize the flush of red chakra as it creeps its way up her body, beginning to form a second skin. She would see it and know in an instant that this new feeling doesn't come from her chakra at all and that something else is seriously wrong here.

But she doesn't. All she feels is power.

Vaguely she registers Itachi saying something but it's hard to make out over the roar of chakra building in her ears.

"Always a surprise with this one," she makes out right before Itachi's chakra flickers out of sensing range, then reappears right behind her. She's given no time to react and chokes at the hilt of Itachi's sword buries itself at the base of her skull.

Natsuki's eyes roll back into her head and she hits the ground hard, head bouncing off the wooden flooring with a crack. All the power than had been building surges out of her in one rush leaving her limp and weak and defenseless to the darkness threatening at the corners of her mind.

She hears Itachi say something right before Sasuke starts screaming.

 _Sasuke… I need to help Sasuke…_

She tries to move but her body refuses to respond. Tears threaten once more but she can do nothing to stop them or the encroaching darkness as Itachi tortures his brother.

The darkness swallows her whole and it's filled with the screams of her best friend.

 **-\|/-**

Kakashi surveys the Uchiha compound with a mix of disgust, regret and bitter, bitter guilt. All signs so far point to Uchiha Itachi as the perpetrator of this slaughter but Kakashi is having a hard time reconciling the image of his quiet underling with the cold hearted ruthless shinobi that would have carried out this… this… _massacre._

A hawk masked ANBU materializes with a rustle of leaves and Kakashi, only barely, doesn't flinch. "Initial report indicates the parents may have been killed right in front of them," the ANBU reports as medics roll the bodies of two unconscious children onto separate stretchers.

It takes every effort for Kakashi to stay still and not bash his head against the nearest wall.

How could he have not seen this coming? Itachi had been _his_ underling. As captain Kakashi should have noticed something wrong with Itachi and yet… He bites down hard on the inside of his cheek until he tastes blood as he watches the bodies of Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Natsuki being carried away.

The sight of Minato-sensei's daughter, tiny and looking so much like Kushina but unconscious after bearing witness to what was probably the bloodiest night in all of Konoha's history sends a renewed stab of red hot guilt tearing through his gut.

 _I've failed you again… sensei…_

He was a coward for staying away from the children for so long, but after this, Kakashi wonders if they'll ever trust anyone to get close again.

 **-\|/-**

Natsuki's reintroduction into consciousness is slow. Every moment is a struggle as it feels like someone has opened her up and filled her entire body with molasses instead. She wonders if it would be worth the effort to open her eyes. She'd much rather just go back to sleep.

As soon as the thought comes it feels like her molasses soaked body turns to lead. Any desire she may have had to move is gone in an instant. Maybe she'll just go back to sleep. Naruto would always wake her up when-

 _Naruto._

 _Sasuke._

 _The Uchiha Compound._

Her eyes shoot open as memories of blood soaked bodies and blood soaked earth come rushing back and she can't help the quiet sob that comes out.

There's movement at her side. Belatedly she realizes that there's someone lying down next to her but she hadn't noticed until they'd started moving. Her heart seizes in panic, wondering if this is where she truly dies, but then warm chakra fills her senses. A familiar feeling that sends a rush of comfort flowing through her heavy limbs and relaxing them in pure instinct.

"Naruto?" she breathes as her brother jolts awake at the sound of her voice.

"Sis!" she hears in response and a familiar weight collapses on her chest knocking the air out of her lungs.

Normally she'd fight him off but right now it feels so good to be smothered under something familiar. The smell of her brother fills her nose as she lifts a weak hand to pat his back.

His shoulders are shaking and she can feel the telltale wetness of tears trickling down her shoulders. He's sobbing so viciously that she can barely make out what he's saying.

"I thought you were - and the doctors said - asleep for so long!" What she can hear registers slowly. She'd done something and knocked herself out for a long time.

She strokes his head while he cries, looking around the room they're in. There's not much light and no moon as far as she can tell so Natsuki has to squint to make out their surroundings. It's the hospital, she realizes after a moment, but definitely one of the private rooms if its size and lack of other occupants is any indication.

"How long have I been out?" she croaks, surprised at the level of care she seems to have gotten. Now that she's more awake she can even sense the muted chakra signatures of what must be ANBU guards stationed outside their room.

Naruto pulls away and wipes away snot and tears with the back of his hand. It's gross but she doesn't have the energy to correct him. "Three days. The doctors said you were in crit'cal condition because you exhausted your chakra!" Naruto tells her with another wet sniff. She gives a slow nod. After that encounter with Itachi something about being here now, with Naruto beside her, all seems so surreal.

"And Sasuke?" she asks. God he should be in even worse shape. Itachi'd had some sort of personal vendetta against him, who knows what he did to Sasuke after he'd knocked her out. Which begged another question…

Why was Natsuki _alive_?

Don't get her wrong, it's not like she'd wanted to be killed by Itachi… but being spared just seemed… off… He'd only left Sasuke alive the last time around, what was so special about her that warranted her survival as well?

She just can't understand.

Naruto sighs and leans his head against her shoulder and Natsuki buries her nose in his hair, soaking up the familiar scent of family and basking in the warmth of his chakra.

"I don't know. No one tells me anything about him…" he pouts, hands coming up to wind themselves tightly into her nightgown. She rolls her eyes at that. Figures. No one would want to tell the most hated child in the village about his friend if the friend was the sole survivor of their most prestigious clan.

They were idiots. Now of all times, the village wants to leave Sasuke alone? Just after the death of his entire family and right after the betrayal of his brother? Just the thought of it makes her burn. She wonders, what she would have felt if she had woken up without Naruto beside her to be her anchor? She can empathize with Sasuke's reticence after the massacre if _this_ was how he'd been treated in the original Story. All alone and with no one to lean on? She grits her teeth as she nudges Naruto into looking at her.

"How about we go find him?" she suggests in a way that's not really a suggestion.

He blinks in surprise and wipes his eyes. "Won't we get in trouble?"

Natsuki shrugs and pushes herself so that she can sit up. It takes a lot more energy than she thought it would have and the act leaves her winded.

"Help me down," she orders, waving at Naruto. He hops off the bed immediately and comes to the edge to help her to her feet. She slings an arm around his shoulder and guides his arm around her waist. "I think I know where he is."

This level of the hospital must be relatively empty. Aside from the guards she can't sense many other people. It makes it easy to pick out Sasuke's chakra. They move through the halls undisturbed, although Natsuki can feel several of the guards moving with them. One of them is so close they must be in the hall with them but she can't hear a single thing aside from her panting and Naruto's quiet encouragement.

It's scary to think that, if it wasn't for her chakra sense, she would have literally no idea that they were being followed. It makes her skin crawl.

They stop at an unlabeled door.

"You sure this is the right one?" Naruto asks, clearly skeptic.

Natsuki nods. She can feel Sasuke's chakra inside, bright and dancing around her senses like a hyperactive flame. He's awake too. His chakra would be more muted if he wasn't.

Naruto pushes open the door and reveals a figure on the bed sitting straight up and glaring at them. Natsuki can feel the panic in her friend's chakra as it flares up in response to a potential threat.

"It's just us, Sasuke," she calls and feels his chakra relax significantly.

Naruto hobbles them straight up to the bed and helps Natsuki up to sit beside Sasuke. That was definitely a lot more than she was able to manage but a little exhaustion is worth it when she feels how tightly Sasuke's hand grips hers.

"I'm here. I'm okay," she assures him, closing his hand in both of hers. She feels Naruto clamber onto the bed and take up the space on Sasuke's other side. She expects some sort of protest about Naruto being on the bed but Sasuke's chakra relaxes even further.

Something wet lands on her hand.

"We're alive," she says softly, resting her forehead against Sasuke's and feeling the way his body wracks as he cries. She pulls him down and adjusts herself so that Sasuke's hand in secure in hers and nestled between their bodies. She reaches across for Naruto just as he does the same and they link hands as well, allowing them to rest on Sasuke's stomach. She can only assume Naruto's done the same on Sasuke's other side.

She doesn't know what else to say. What else is there _to_ say after something like this? Natsuki's always been horrible at sympathy, both in this life and the last. She's not good with words so she does the alternative and sticks with what she knows best.

She nestles her head on Sasuke's shoulder and murmurs soft reassurances on their continued presence. Naruto's chattering too about something or the other but she can tell it's working to calm Sasuke by the way his chakra levels off and eventually loses that desperate tinge.

Eventually she stops talking but Naruto doesn't. She's glad because it helps her too. It helps her remember that she's not alone. With the way their chakras feel, enveloping her senses and surrounding her in a cocoon of comfort, she wishes this moment would never pass.

She dreads the coming dawns and what they will mean for them. So she doesn't think about it. She buries her face in Sasuke's neck and focuses on her friend and her brother and holds their hands tight until, eventually, she falls asleep once more.

* * *

 **Welp. That was a thing that happened. ^^**

 **I'd like to point out something before moving on. Natsuki is a self insert, and as a self insert I've given her quite a few of my qualities which, for better or for worse, are a part of her. My biggest vice is, unfortunately, my memory. I forget things very easily and I have a horrible sense for placing times and dates even as it relates to my own personal history. It's a shitty way to live which is why I write and keep diaries, a similar habit that Natsuki also has.**

 **Despite this, Natsuki is still human and, as much as she believes otherwise, she is living as a child. She allowed herself to grow comfortable with the way of life she was allowed to live and is now paying the price being lax brings. It is what it is and is something that, I believe, had to be done.**

 **Let me know your thoughts.**

 **-Rayne**


	10. Academy Days: Chapter 10

" _ **It really is a shame you had to go through all of that."**_

 _Natsuki is in the dream garden again, sprawled on her back in the shade of the foliage. The civilian from last time is still in the tree but this time they've made themselves comfortable on a lower branch. Natsuki can see dark legs swinging to and fro, just on the edge of her periphery, but makes no move to see who they belong to. It doesn't matter to her. Not right now._

" _ **Technically**_ _ **, this is your fault,"**_ _the civilian offers again. The tone isn't accusatory but it might as well be. They're right after all._

 _She'd_ _ **forgotten**_ _about the Massacre. What kind of shitty excuse of a friend was she that she could just_ _ **forget**_ _about the inevitable slaughtering of her best friend's entire family? The worst, and an even shittier human being at that too._

" _ **Now don't feel too bad about it. You can't possibly remember everything about this place you've dumped us in. You don't even remember me…"**_ _The civilian trails off and Natsuki finds the energy to tilt her head back to catch a glimpse of the stranger. All she gets is a vaguely shadowy figure with a bushy mop of hair that makes their head look exceedingly round._

 _She gives up on getting a proper view and goes back to moping instead._

" _ **Do you ever wonder why you ended up there? In a different world?"**_ _the civilian asks._

 _Natsuki just wants peace and quiet but the stranger's question is digging into her mind. It's a question she'd contemplated countless times before with no clearer answer every time it's asked._

" _All the time," she replies, finally breaking her silence._

" _ **I think it's either a punishment or a mistake,"**_ _the civilian says, sounding firm._

 _Natsuki frowns. "If it's a punishment, then what am I being punished_ _ **for**_ _?"_

 _She can_ _ **feel**_ _the shrug from the other person and grinds her teeth._

" _ **Who knows? Well technically you do, but you just don't want to. Which means, until you feel like sorting yourself out I'll just hang around here."**_

" _Where is_ _ **here**_ _even?" Natsuki growls, pushing herself up. She's getting fed up of this place and she's getting fed up of half answers from a poorly constructed dream figure._

" _ **Somewhere important, I think."**_ _The stranger swings up and out of the way when Natsuki makes a grab for their legs._

" _ **Tut tut tut. Buy me dinner first."**_

 _Natsuki throws her hands up in defeat and goes back to sulking._

" _ **This place is all about you…"**_

 **-\|/-**

The funeral for the murdered Uchiha is surprisingly small. It takes place in the Uchiha's private burial ground which now sports rows and rows of new graves. The sight is sobering but also makes Natsuki feel sick.

The bodies of the lower ranking clansmen and Uchiha civilians have already been quietly buried days ago. It's only the bodies of Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Fugaku, the clan heads, which have yet to be laid to rest.

Natsuki thinks it's supposed to be symbolic. By acknowledging the head you supposedly acknowledge the entire family but she remembers Mikoto's smile and Touru's jokes as two very separate facets of existence. She's bitter about the fact that the other Uchiha, the ones who made such an impact in her life and the lives of her brother and Sasuke, will only be acknowledged as a side note in history. They're important too, even if the village thinks otherwise.

Sasuke grips her hand tighter as the Sandaime makes his speech. He's talking about the roots of Konoha, about the coming together of the Uchiha and the Senju to create the village and how the Uchiha have always stood as the central pillar in Konoha's history.

The Sandaime's chakra is heavy with grief, but at its core there's a coldness to it that Natsuki can sense. He's saddened by the death of the Uchiha, but at the same time something has caused him to distance himself from it and forced him to move.

Another stroke of resent makes its mark on Natsuki's heart as she squeezes her brother's hand for comfort. Naruto may love this village, but Natsuki finds herself wondering how much affection she can spare for a place that can't even seem to respect its dead at their funeral.

Throughout the funeral, Sasuke stands firm. He doesn't shed a single tear when his parents' bodies are lowered into their final resting places. He stares at their coffins until they disappear completely under the dirt and then turns away, shoulders shaking.

He's not crying, not yet, but it's a near thing.

She rests her cheek on his shoulder and feels Naruto tug him into a warm hug as she blinks away her own tears.

This truly is a horrible day.

 **-\|/-**

The twins have been a constant presence at Sasuke's side ever since the night of the Massacre. Natsuki likes to think they've helped keep Sasuke off the darker path he would have inevitably gone down had he been left alone.

He's not as chatty as before, but he's not entirely closed off either. Occasionally he gets this faraway look in his eyes or makes a move as though expecting to see someone there only to be disappointed when it's only the twins.

It hurts seeing him struggle so much but she doesn't know what else to do. She gives him his space to mourn while she and Naruto do the same, but also does her best to not let him wallow for too long.

When all is said and done, they still have each other at least, and the twins never had much of a family before but they're willing to include Sasuke in their little world if it eases the hurt.

For now, they're still in the hospital, taking up space as investigations continue. The twins have made themselves quite comfortable in Sasuke's room and refuse to be moved.

A few nurses had complained about the trio sharing one room but then Sasuke dropped his pride for one minute to play out the most spectacular tantrum she's seen since Naruto's terrible twos and they were left alone after that. But being alone only makes the kids bored.

Aside from the funeral, they haven't left the hospital since the Massacre. Officially they're there under 'observation' just in case Itachi plans on making a return trip to the village to finish off the job. Unofficially, Natsuki thinks the Sandaime wants to keep them out of the way and out of trouble while they sort out the mess that's been left behind. Either way they've been locked up in the hospital for the past week with no foreseeable end in sight. They've been told they can go once the village has been deemed 'safe' but who knows how long that will take.

For once Natsuki misses school. Being in a hospital is horribly boring, especially since Naruto is the only one who's really allowed to leave, and she can only come up with stories for so long to amuse them. If this goes on for much longer there will be mutiny.

There's a knock on the door and a beat of silence before a familiar face enters the room.

"Good afternoon. I have the results of your tests if you wish to hear them."

Isada's back. He's been assigned as their supervisor while they recover in the hospital. He generally likes to pop in occasionally to see how they're doing but on his last visit he asked Natsuki's permission to run a few in depth tests to see how extensive her condition was.

It's tiring but she agrees (and also has Yamori-sensei sign off on the documents as a legal witness) simply because it gives her something interesting to be a part of while they're away from school. She also finds herself missing her annoying sensei but he's only been able to visit once (much to Sasuke and Naruto's surprise). She feels odd depending on him since, technically, she's older than him anyway (although nowadays the lines are getting blurry. It's getting harder for her to tell what counts as Before and what counts as After in the Story) but she's a child stuck in a hospital so she literally has no other choice.

"Did you find anything new?" she asks, holding her cards close to her chest so her brother can't peek. Naruto's managed to liberate a deck of cards from who knows where and they've been playing WAR for the past hour or so to kill time while Sasuke dozes with his head on her lap.

"Aside from your pre-existing condition? No, but I did find something interesting that you may want to know about."

Naruto's ears perk up at that.

"Condition?" he repeats, giving his sister and the med nin a suspicious look.

Isada looks curious meanwhile Natsuki breaks out in cold sweat. She hasn't gotten around to telling either Sasuke or Naruto about her under-developed chakra coils. Even when Isada had asked to run the tests, the boys had been off to take a bath so they hadn't been involved with the decision making. To be honest, if she could have had her way, they would have never known about it at all. It's selfish and unrealistic but a small part of her hoped to delay the inevitable and forego dealing with this entirely, but there's only so long secrets can stay hidden. Plus, now Naruto's curious and a curious Naruto is like a dog with a bone. She can even feel Sasuke slowly edging towards consciousness and decides that it may be best to get it over with now rather than later.

"Alright, I have something to tell you," she admits.

"You didn't tell your brother about your condition?" Isada demands, looking irate for once.

"I. Didn't. Want to!" she hisses, not the least bit ashamed of her petulance.

"Come on Sasuke, up and at em. I have something to tell you," she urges while she shakes her friend to full consciousness. "Something I should have just said from the start if I'm entirely honest," she mutters under her breath.

"I'm up, I'm up," Sasuke complains, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He glares at Isada who glares right on back. If anything, Natsuki's glad Isada seems immune to the general awe most of the medical professionals in the hospital have towards the Uchiha. For him a patient is a patient is a patient, regardless of last name or status. It's probably why he was assigned to them in the first place.

"So... remember a couple of weeks ago, I told you I wasn't feeling well after my first ninjutsu class?" she begins. Now that she's started, she feels her stomach beginning to tangle as nerves take over.

"Yeah. You said you'd just felt tired because class was draining," Sasuke confirms, looking just as suspicious as Naruto now.

Natsuki sighs and scratches her whiskers. "Well... that was half of the truth at least. We were attempting the Bunshin no Jutsu and... well... I collapsed and blacked out."

"What?!"

"No way!"

"And you didn't tell us?!"

Naruto and Sasuke are a right mix of disbelief and stern reprimand which is funny because that's usually Natsuki's position.

"Weeell, I didn't want you to worry," she defends.

"Well I'm worrying now!" Naruto exclaims.

Sasuke nods vehemently in agreement and Natsuki rubs her eyes. Mikoto was right (the thought sends a pain through her heart that she'd much rather ignore than acknowledge), she should have told the boys sooner.

"What happened?" Sasuke asks. The question is quiet but his tone is firm.

"I was brought to the hospital by Yamori-sensei and they ran some diagnostic tests on me," she continues. Now this is the hard part. The admitting that there's something wrong with her. That she's... insufficient.

The words get stuck in her throat and her eyes prickle in frustration but she just can't seem to say it.

Isada comes to her rescue. "The tests revealed a certain condition that Natsuki has which makes it difficult for her to do ninjutsu. Simply put, Natsuki's body is unable to support her ability to do ninjutsu or genjutsu."

The boys gape at Isada in shock while Natsuki trembles in anticipation. She's scared to look at the boys now, too terrified to consider what they'll think of her.

"And there's no way to cure it?" Sasuke asks. Natsuki doesn't hear a verbal response but she feels Naruto and Sasuke's chakra wilt. Isada must have shaken his head which is fine by her. She's not sure she would have been able to listen to that for a second time.

"So sis can't be a ninja?" is Naruto's next question. His voice sounds so small and full of disbelief, like his whole world is crashing around him. Natsuki hates that she'd the cause of it, that this time she's the one making his world hurt.

Isada simply scoffs, which make Natsuki want to punch him but his next words soothe her ire a bit. "In any sane person this might have been the case, but your sister is as stubborn as an ox. She's got her heart set on being a ninja so she plans on sticking around."

"But... but..."

"How will you move forward if you can't do ninjustu?" Sasuke asks. She peeks at him through wet lashes and sees him wearing a look that's more curious than disappointed.

It gives her hope so she sniffs and replies with, "Well... Isada-san is making it sound a lot worse than is actually is. It's not like I can't do any ninjutsu. I just won't be able to do any big ones and even the basics might take me a lot of time."

The boys are silent for a long time, so long that Natsuki isn't sure what they might be thinking which scares her. She spends all her time with them, she knows them better than she knows herself. If she can't predict what they'll say then how is she supposed to be a decent ninja?

"Are you sure you still want to be a ninja?" Sasuke asks.

Natsuki scowls at him and he flinches. "Of course I still want to be a ninja.

"She says she wants to be so I have no doubt she'll succeed via the power of bullheadness," Isada snorts.

"So what about class? Will you move back into our year?" Sasuke looks hopeful.

Isada snorts. "Pulling her down wouldn't be beneficial to her either. The early years of the Academy all focus on chakra control. Underdeveloped chakra coils or not, she's still way ahead of children her age so it wouldn't be beneficial to leave her behind. Not unless she really needs it," he explains. "Seeing as she's set on passing her graduation exam with what skill she _does_ have, then her curriculum should be altered to suit her needs. And as she said, it's not that jutsu are entirely out of the question. They're just not an avenue of interest that would be beneficial to her in the long run."

Sasuke looks upset for some reason while Naruto ponders the information they've just been given. Natsuki plays with her fingers, picking at her cuticles and practically shredding them in an effort to keep herself calm while the boys stay silent.

"Does it bother you?" Natsuki eventually asks, unable to bear the silence. "That I probably won't be able to do any jutsu?"

Sasuke averts his eyes and Natsuki feels her heart break. Tears begin to well and her vision starts to blur.

"Not to me." Naruto's staring at her, strong and determined but also with a glint of glee in those blue eyes she loves so much.

"You're still my sis no matter what and if you say you're gonna become a ninja without using ninjutsu then I believe it!" he declares. Her heart swells in relief and she throws her arms around her brother, wrapping him in a tight hug. His arms wrap around her in kind and the twins share a long hug that's equal part relief and comfort.

"As a matter of fact," Naruto continues when Natsuki finally pulls away. "You wanna know what I think?" Natsuki giggles and shrugs. Naruto rests his forehead on hers so that he can meet her eyes. "I think… you'll be one of the best ninja ever. After me of course, cuz I'll be Hokage and _I'll_ need to be the greatest ninja _ever_ but you can come in second."

Natsuki sputters and smacks Naruto's shoulder but she's smiling and he's grinning right back at her. This is why she'll try her best to be a good ninja. For her, it's all about Naruto. Her little brother with his bright eyes and brighter smile who chases the darkness away just by being the little ball of sunshine he always is. He makes any hardship of hers worth enduring.

"I'm not happy about this." The twins separate to find Sasuke scowling furiously at the pair.

"Oh yeah? You gotta problem?" Naruto challenges, teeth bared in a growl. Natsuki's hesitant to move between the two. She'd rather not get caught in whatever hissing contest that's about to go down but Sasuke avoids the problem entirely in an unexpected way.

"Yes I have a problem!" he declares. "If you can't do ninjutsu then how am I supposed to know when I've truly surpassed you?"

The statement is so ridiculous and so… so… _Sasuke_ that the twins can't help but stare.

"You seriously need to figure out your priorities," Naruto deadpans while Natsuki dissolves into a fit of hysterical giggles.

"What? Can't beat a girl that already has a handicap?" she ribs.

Sasuke scoffs and rolls his eyes. "As if. You better work your ass off. When I finally beat you in a one on one I don't want you making any excuses, you hear?"

The whole exchange is so unbelievable that Natsuki can't help succumb to the relieved laughter that had been building up for a while now.

"You're ridiculous," she manages between fits as she leans heavily against him.

Sasuke's eyes are dark from lack of sleep and have looked haunted ever since that night, but now the shadows recede slightly as his lips quirk and he laughs as well.

"Seriously ridiculous," Naruto parrots with a decisive nod.

Isada coughs and Natsuki blushes immediately. They've had their entire heart to heart right in front of him. Even he looks slightly uncomfortable after having to sit through their display.

"Now that that's sorted," he says. "I do believe I said I had some interesting news for you."

"Right. Something you said I might wanna know," she confirms.

Isada nods. "In doing conducting a more in depth analysis of your chakra coils and chakra stores, it has been discovered that you possess an unusually high level of spiritual chakra."

"Spiritual chakra?" Sasuke repeats.

"What does that mean?" Natsuki asks.

"Yeah! And what's with this spiritual chakra mumbo jumbo. Chakra's just chakra innit?" Naruto demands.

Isada shakes his head. "Not quite. You see, chakra is divided into two parts; spiritual energy and physical energy. Your physical chakra comes from your body. The more you work and train, the more you're able to build up your store of physical chakra. On the other hand, spiritual chakra comes from the mind. It requires a shinobi keep his mind sharp by studying and meditating. Through these means spiritual chakra can be increased as well. These two facets come together to form the chakra you know of so that you can use jutsu."

Naruto looks like they've lost him so Natsuki just shakes her head with fond dismay. "It's like… like when you have to use your hands to make the seal for a justu. You know you use both hands, right?" Naruto nods. "Well good, spiritual chakra is like your right hand, and physical chakra the left. They need to come together in order for the seal to be made so you can create your jutsu."

Naruto's eyes light up. "Well that makes a lot more sense. Why didn't you just explain it like that in the first place?!"

"Because not all of us are idiots," Sasuke interjects with another eye roll. Natsuki swears one day his eyes are going to roll right out of their sockets.

"So then what's the big deal if sis' spiritual chakra is higher than her other chakra?" Naruto asks. Which is a very good question.

Isada hums thoughtfully. "Well, in a normal person this could be resolved by training and building up their physical chakra reserves. However, with Natsuki's under-developed chakra coils, even if she manages to increase her physical chakra, the chances of it ever matching the amounts of her spiritual energies or her even being able to use it is still limited."

Which puts her back in the same place she started except now she knows she has a whole lot of one chakra that's basically good for nothing. She says as much and gets a vague shrug from Isada in return.

"I said it was interesting, not that it would be useful."

Maybe if she punches him hard enough she can knock some sense into him. Seriously, is there some sort of code that means all med nin have to be as difficult as possible or is Isada always like that?

"Say, you're her twin, correct?" Isada's giving Naruto a curious look that has him edging away from the older nin.

"Yeah I am, what about it?" Naruto's halfway behind her at this point and she doesn't blame him. Isada's got a look about him that reminds Natsuki of a particularly hungry shark.

"What would you say about allowing me to run a few scans on you as well? This isn't a particularly common condition and it's even rarer for it to show up in twins. It would be a sin to let such a prime opportunity for a study pass me by."

Naruto shoots his sister an uncertain look and she responds with a careless shrug. She doesn't really mind. She's curious about it herself and wouldn't mind having a bit more knowledge.

"A-alright," Naruto agrees, full of hesitancy. "But only if none of the tests hurt!"

"Che! Scared of a few needles?" Sasuke chides. "What sort of ninja's scared of a little pain?"

"Bastard!" Naruto growls and sets his cards aside. Sasuke tenses and Natsuki feels him shift seconds before Naruto yells and tackles him off the bed. They land with a heavy thud and begin wrestling and yelling at each other.

"Take that back, bastard!"

"Not on your life, idiot!"

"Duck face!"

"Ramen otaku!"

"Tomato head!"

"Dead last!"

The insults get more and more creative as the two tussle and Natsuki hangs off the edge of the bed cheering them on.

"You got him, Naruto! Kick his ass, Sasuke! You just gonna take that bro?!" she yells, egging them both on and cackling as their squabbling gets more and more heated.

"Shouldn't you be stopping them?" Isada asks, taking a seat on the bed when a stray shoe goes flying and nearly takes his head off.

Natsuki gives him an unimpressed look. "But why?" she asks. "It's boring here. I gotta have fun someho- He's right behind you, Sasuke!" and she's rolling on her back with laughter when Sasuke manages to send Naruto flying into the wall. Her brother's looking banged up but Sasuke looks no better. One foot is bare which suggests that the shoe than went flying earlier belonged to him.

Isada huffs but the corner of his mouth is turning up ever so slightly.

"So you _can_ smile," Natsuki jeers, poking him in the side with her toe.

He casually swats her off. "I'd like to run those tests now," is all he says which makes Natsuki laugh even more.

For the sake of peace and order Isada should reprimand the lot of them, but it's the first time he's seen Natsuki laugh since being admitted and it doesn't sit right with him to stop her now. Even Sasuke is smirking a bit and Naruto is grinning like an idiot despite not having fixed himself at all.

He rolls his eyes to disguise the fondness beginning to settle in his chest.

He supposes he should re-visit his stance on not treating children.

* * *

 **I'm meh about how this chapter turned out. Transitional chapters like this one have always given me problems. This and the next one I think are fairly filler-ish but they're set-ups for other stuff that needs to happen in the future so I suppose I'll just have to plod on.**

 **Let me know what you thought of it**

 **-Rayne**


	11. Academy Days: Chapter 11

Natsuki's never been fond of the tiny apartment she and her brother call home but after spending three weeks in a hospital it feels like the Daimyo's palace to her. The ever present tension that had taken to sitting in her chest and stomach practically melts away at the familiar sight of an unmade bed and empty ramen cups.

The place smells musty, a result of being locked up too long while Naruto kept them company in the hospital, but its home and Natsuki almost cries when she throws her bag down and collapses face first on the bed.

"Open up a window," Sasuke orders.

Natsuki lifts her head up to peek at her friend and he and Naruto start cracking open windows to let some fresh air in. For the unforeseeable future, Sasuke will be staying with them.

At discharge one of the guards had told Sasuke the compound was clear should he wish to return home. He'd looked so close to a panic attack that Natsuki said Sasuke would be staying with them for now. She hadn't even asked Sasuke's permission or anything. Just grabbed him and marched them all back home.

He hadn't made any sort of protest the whole time so Natsuki could only hope she's made the right choice. Looking at the way he moves around the apartment, familiar but still a bit uncertain, a selfish part of her preens at the fact that one of her precious people will be so close to her at all times.

It's horrible, especially considering the events leading up to them having to share this space, but she can't stop herself from feeling content at the sight of Sasuke and Naruto moving around each other as though they've been doing it for years.

"I'm hungry," Naruto complains, dropping down on the bed beside his sister and drumming his heels into her back.

Natsuki scowls and tries to kick him in return but the angle is awkward and she can't reach. Sasuke smacks him in passing, earning a loud yell of indignation, and hesitates for the barest of moments before slipping onto the bed as well closer to Natsuki's head and out of range of Naruto's feet.

"We need to go shopping. I'm certain that fridge has nothing in it for us," Natsuki mutters.

"I'm fairly certain that the thing occupying it right now has become sentient and is planning a hostile takeover," Sasuke agrees solemnly which makes Natsuki giggle.

"Maybe we should we go out to eat?" Naruto suggests. Sasuke looks like he'd much rather do anything but face the outside world but Naruto's stomach grumbles loudly before he can protest and Natsuki's responds in kind.

"Sorry Sasuke," she apologises. "We'll make it quick? To Ichiraku's and back?" she tries.

Sasuke looks around the apartment again. "Maybe... I could just stay here? And clean up a little?"

The twins make a face.

"You shouldn't be the one cleaning. We'll do it!" Naruto declares but his stomach rumbles again and he winces.

"Let's go out," Natsuki quietly suggests, lifting her head and resting her chin on his thigh so she can peer at him. "A little air might be good for us," she hedges.

Sasuke looks doubtful but eventually folds. They head out for Ichiraku's, the late afternoon sun warming their skin as they walk.

"See, this is nice," Natsuki says, trying to be pleasant. As said before, Natsuki is not good at feelings or being sympathetic. She's not even sure how she's going to deal with her own trauma and the nightmares that plague her after the massacre much less Sasuke's. The boy in question is sticking as close to her side as physically possible while Naruto meanders beside them at his own pace.

People are talking. Natsuki can hear them whispering as they walk.

The twins have always received a fair amount of attention. Mostly negative and sometimes aggressively so, but they've learned how to deal and ignore it. Sasuke's never had to deal with it though. He's always had his family and, in return, the respect of the village simply by being who he is. He's suddenly unsure of how to deal with all the attention being thrown is way.

He curls in on himself a little, but looks at the twins, the way they move with their heads held high as though they can't hear the whispers, and takes a deep breath. If they can do it, so can he. He straightens his spine but can't bring himself to pull away from Natsuki just yet.

Teuchi greets them normally, as though his favourite customers hadn't simply dropped off the face of the earth for weeks. No doubt he's aware of the reason behind their disappearance. Ichiraku's is a common hangout for Konoha shinobi and ninjas are the biggest gossips you'll ever meet.

Still, Natsuki appreciates him more than anything when all he does is slip them their favourite meals and starts chatting about what new flavours he's thinking of trying for the new week.

Naruto's swept up in that conversation in a heartbeat leaving Natsuki and Sasuke to enjoy their meal in relative silence. In this place, surrounded by people she loves as their chakras brush against each other every now and again, Natsuki feels her world settle.

 **-\|/-**

Natsuki avoids stirring up any big fuss about her return to class by being the first one there. She settles herself all the way at the back and by the window. She'd be crawling up the walls if she wasn't able to see where everyone was in the class. Judging by the look Kanzaki-sensei gives her, he understands the reason behind her sudden change in seating but says nothing about it, simply shuffles his papers and greets her with a quiet 'welcome back'.

The rest of her class gives her odd looks as they trail in but they're easily ignored by putting her head down and closing her eyes. No one knew how to approach her before and she's thankful for it now because no one dares come closer to ask questions.

She wonders how Sasuke and Naruto are making out.

Sasuke seemed relaxed this morning but his eyes were dark when they split. Naruto gave her a thumbs up before disappearing after him so all she can do is sigh and hope her brother is doing his best to keep Sasuke occupied.

She sighs and rests her chin on her arms and tries to get lost in class but it's difficult. Her eyes keep wandering and she jumps a little every time one of the students moves too quickly or does something she can't anticipate.

At the end of the day she's a jittery mess but she can't help it.

"It will get better." Natsuki nearly hits the ceiling when Kanzaki-sensei's voice comes from behind her.

The look he's giving her isn't one of pity, it's the same sleepy look he always has and Natsuki takes the advice in the spirit (she thinks) it's being given. Just advice from one shinobi to another (even if she isn't actually shinobi just yet).

 **-\|/-**

Living with Sasuke isn't quite what she thought it would be. For one thing, life actually gets a little easier. It's probably the council's way of sucking up to their only Uchiha but Sasuke gets offered a house (a whole fucking _house_ ) to live in seeing as he refuses to go anywhere near the Compound.

He declined it at first but after being approached repeatedly, finally accepts the damn thing and promptly demands that the twins move in with him.

Neither of them complain. When given the option of living in a nice house with proper heating, an excess of bedrooms, running water and baths that don't spit rust water on a semi-regular basis versus the dump the twins have resided in for almost eight years, there's really no other choice is there?

Naruto is eager to pack and go and, to be honest, so is Natsuki.

"I forgot about this!" Natsuki gets a dingy stuffed rabbit shoved into her face. She recognizes it as one of the few toys they'd managed to sneak away from the orphanage when they got booted –ahem- transferred out.

She makes a face. "Ew." It's disgusting and belongs in the trash. Naruto leers and her skin crawls right before he shoves it down her shirt.

"Naruto you bastard!" She wails as she scrambles to get the disgusting toy out of her clothes. She pitches it out the window but still feels gross and grimy. She glares at her brother who's sneaking out the room. "I will not forget this," she promises. Naruto goes white before making a break for it.

Natsuki has to count to ten, then to twenty, then thirty before she's able to move without considering causing her brother serious bodily harm.

She stomps over to the bookshelf and furiously empties it instead but freezes when a familiar worn notebook falls out from its hiding place behind folders full of rough drafts for novels.

The sloppy handwriting and 'IMPORTANT' scrawled in English mocks her with its innocence and she tamps down on the growing urge to see the little book burn. She picks it up, determinedly ignoring the way her fingers shake, and flips through.

They're her early notes, the ones she'd written back in the orphanage when she was trying to organize herself and her place in the new world she'd been thrown into. The haphazard mix of English and Spanish she'd mashed together as a very rudimentary encryption is laughable and she can't hold back the startled laugh spills forth. In the quiet of the room it sounds more panicked than amused. Was it really only a few years ago that she'd written these? It seems like so much longer, like another time entirely.

Familiar names jump out at her; Tsunade, Pein, Madara, Gaara. Names she'd given such importance to back then but now only fill her with dread that serves to remind her just how powerless she is. A little girl with no family aside from her brother and their best friend who's also now an orphan after an attack she was powerless to stop.

The words 'Uchiha Massacre' are written in bold and underlined in triplicate. They're laughing at her. She tears the page out without even looking at what's on the rest of it and tears it into tiny pieces. She doesn't need another reminder of how powerless she is.

She should throw the notebook out. A large part of her wants to. As is there's still not much she can do to change the Story significantly. She's doing the best she can to keep Sasuke from spiraling down into thoughts of revenge and she thinks she's succeeding but it's hard to tell. He still has nightmares and wakes up screaming regularly waking Naruto whenever he does. The only reason he's not disturbing her sleep is because she rarely gets any these days.

"Watcha looking at?" Natsuki nearly jumps through the window at Sasuke's sudden appearance.

She was so lost in her thoughts she never sensed his approach. Who knows how long he's been watching her? She shrugs and closes the book. No sense in trying to hide it, it would just make him suspicious and even more curious about what it was.

"Old notes," she replies, waving it a little. "And story ideas. Stuff I never really thought out and I just forgot about them." And isn't that the truth…

Sasuke dismisses the book completely. "Naruto says he won't come back unless you promise not to kill him."

Natsuki scowls. "Then he's not gonna be coming home for a while then."

Sasuke grins and steps over to help her pack the rest of the books away. She gives the notebook one last look before tucking it into her rucksack for safe keeping.

 **-\|/-**

She figures it should come as no surprise when the senseis start complaining about the fact that Sasuke has taken to skipping classes with Naruto. She's been expecting some kind of reaction from Sasuke for the longest time now. At home he's quieter than usual. He still teases Naruto and troubles Natsuki about her cooking, but occasionally he just goes quiet and stares off into the distance.

The fact that he's doing _anything_ , even if it is ditching class, is a relief to her. She'll have to probe him a little later just to find out the reason why he's suddenly taken up ditching when before he used to scold her and Naruto about it but as long as he doesn't seem to be turning into the rage filled brat from Before, she thinks he'll be all right. Relatively so at least.

She's not sure why the senseis keep complaining to her though. As much as they like to think otherwise she doesn't actually have any control over Sasuke or her brother. They make their own choices. All she does is try to guide them down the path of least destruction (quite literally).

 **-\|/-**

No matter how much time she spends in the hospital, Natsuki will never get over the smell. It's too… clean. The antiseptics and disinfectant used on the floors and in the rooms irritates her sensitive nose and makes her sneeze every time she steps in.

This visit is no better than any of the others.

"Isada-sensei?" she asks, wiping water from her eyes. There's always an adjustment period she has to endure before the smell stops bothering her but until she gets used to it she has to deal with watery eyes and a runny nose.

Today's receptionist isn't sympathetic to her plight in the least.

"Exam room 304," is the curt response she gets before the receptionist makes a show of opening the log book and ignoring Natsuki spectacularly.

Natsuki takes it with her usual grace (meaning as soon as she's out of view of the front desk she gives it the hardest middle finger she can summon) and trudges up to the third floor for her usual check up with Isada-sensei.

Ever since he'd gotten it into his head to compare the Uzumaki twins, he seemed to be seriously pursuing a research paper on the subject of chakra deficiency and malformed coils in young shinobi. For Isada it means digging through piles on piles of medical records on children born with malformed chakra coils, hunting them down (if they were still alive) and requesting permission for them to be part of his study.

For Natsuki, it means having to endure weekly checkups so that he can monitor her progression through school. Isada seems to be in it for the long haul which means Natsuki's resigned herself to practically living in the hospital for the rest of her life (or at least until Isada feels he's gotten enough data from her). She's not even sure how many other participants he has for his study. It's not like her condition is common.

She hasn't seen anyone else waiting to be examined by Isada in the past month she's been coming so she doubts

The notion is dispelled when she arrives at the exam room and the door's label has been turned to 'Exam in Session'. Sunday isn't a busy day for the hospital which is why Isada uses it as his 'data collection day' for his research and his temper is legendary among the staff which means she doubts the receptionist gave her the wrong room number which can only mean Isada's found another participant for his research.

Natsuki tries rather unsuccessfully to fight the sudden flare of jealousy that flares up with the thought as she sits in the stiff backed chair in the waiting area for Isada to be done.

20 minutes later the door opens and out walks a familiar… face? Well… it's not really the face that's familiar as much as the almost comically large eyes and ultra-thick eyebrows set in the pudgy face of a baby Rock Lee.

She hops off her chair and wanders over slowly as Isada emerges from the room not a moment later.

"Ah, I hope you weren't out here too long. I wasn't expecting this exam to run quite as long as it did," Isada apologises, tugging at the collar of his med-uniform. He complains bitterly about how hot the uniform is when he thinks Natsuki isn't listening which she finds amusing.

"S'fine," Natsuki replies with a shrug, unashamedly checking out Lee who's doing the same. His chakra feels nowhere near as vibrant as the other shinobi children his age but it's there nonetheless, a strong, sturdy beat that thrums against her senses as slowly as waves on a lazy day but no less powerful.

"Meet Rock Lee, my second willing participant for my study." Isada gestures to the boy as though it isn't obvious who he's referring to. He's not as… green… as Natsuki was expecting him to be but of course this Lee hasn't been introduced to Gai just yet. If anything he's even less groomed than his future self, hair sticking up oddly at the back and sides where he seemed to have forgotten to comb. His clothes, however, are neatly kept. Well, as neatly kept as second hand clothes can be. Natsuki's spent enough time living on hand me downs to recognize the look of orphanage clothes that have to last long past their time.

"Lee, this is Uzumaki Natsuki. You'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future so it would be in your best interest to get along." Isada's glaring at Natsuki who honestly doesn't feel a lick of guilt at being singled out for her prickly attitude. Children don't like her anyway so why should she put in the effort when it would all amount to bupkis anyway?

"I am well aware of Miss Uzumaki!" Lee declares and isn't that adorable? She'd assumed Lee patterned his speech after Gai but it seems like he's just always been a little sweetheart. "We are in the same year at the Academy."

Both Natsuki and Isada look surprised at this statement.

"And you never told me?" Isada asks, looking stern.

Natsuki shrugs helplessly. "I didn't know!" she protests.

"And indeed she would not have known for we are in separate classes!" Lee declares. "But a good shinobi should always be aware of changes in their surroundings and Miss Uzumaki caused quite the stir when she advanced."

Natsuki chuckled awkwardly and Isada just sighed.

"Well, stay aware because you'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future," Isada says, rubbing his eyes.

"I look forward it!" Lee declares brightly, shaking Natsuki's hand enthusiastically. "I do not wish to be rude but I must depart and continue with my training!" and with one last wave Lee trots off and disappears down the stairs.

Natsuki and Isada stare after him long after he's gone.

"His condition is much like yours but unlike you he possesses a much larger reservoir of physical chakra. The lack of properly developed chakra coils makes it difficult for him to access them however. He could, given intense training, but it would leave him severely injured afterward."

"So basically if he learned to use his chakra he'd sort of go out with a bang?" Natsuki asks.

"A very big bang," Isada confirms and silence falls again.

"I like him," is what she breaks the quiet with.

Isada huffs but the sound is amused. "Come along. Let's get your exam out of the way."

Natsuki gives the stairs one lingering look before following him inside.

 **-\|/-**

Despite what people think, Naruto isn't dumb. Over energetic, yes. With a short attention span? Hell yes. But when you spend as much time being hated as he does you learn that it's better to let people form their own opinions of him and stay that way rather than to waste energy changing their views. And really it all helps because when people spend time ignoring him they don't realize just how much watching he's doing when they're not looking.

For all his hyperactivity and (perceived) inattentiveness Naruto is a rather observant child. Maybe not in the same way as his sister who can pin him and Sasuke in under two minutes (four if she's distracted that day) or like the Sasuke who seems to have a sixth sense for whenever his fan club is approaching and who disappears like smoke in the wind as soon as they get too close (more often than not leaving Naruto to fend for himself), and maybe that doesn't apply to his school work (because honestly who wants to sit in school all day reading books that don't even have any cool heroes in them) but still… he notices things.

Like when Natsuki's smile gets more and more strained as time goes by and they all move up one more year. At first he thought he could blame it on the Massacre (and boy doesn't he beat himself up night after night for not following his sister and best friend home like he should have. He should have been there with them! Not home curled up under a bed like a scaredy cat when the village wide alarms started blaring!), but then time passes and Natsuki starts sleeping again (instead of lying in bed staring at the ceiling or spending hours working on her stupid stitching) but the brightness behind her smile doesn't come back.

She's still his loving sister, giving him hugs and kisses (and forcing him to eat vegetables when he'd rather do anything else) but every now and again, when she thinks he or Sasuke isn't looking, she'll get this faraway look in her eyes and will let out a heavy sigh. In those moments she looks so much older than she ought to be so Naruto does what he thinks is best. Yells really loudly and initiates a prank war which usually does the trick to bring her out of her funk.

He wonders though… how much of his sister was lost the night Sasuke's family was murdered. She may be alive but she's not… quite… the same.

And then there's Sasuke. Is this what it's like to have a brother? To have someone to scheme with when Natsuki isn't around or to have someone who the teachers trust implicitly (because Natsuki may be cute but the name Uzumaki has her down in a lot of bad books just on principle) to cover his back? If it is, then he likes it, even if he has to drag the bastard out of class on some days to chase away the shadows that sometimes creep into his eyes when he's left alone for too long.

Natsuki calls Naruto her ray of sunshine because he chases all her bad feelings away. Whenever she says that it makes Sasuke scoff but his lips quirk anyway which means he agrees too.

Naruto doesn't always feel like sun but if that's what Natsuki needs him to be then he'll gladly be it.

When he was younger and the Hokage came to visit the twins at their orphanage Naruto dreamt of one day wearing that hat and making a village so great that Natsuki would always be smiling.

Now… he's not sure if being Hokage would be enough to make that one dream come true…

* * *

 **Naruto is an oddly tricky character to write for. I thought Sasuke was hard but Naruto's exactly the kind of easy going character I seem to have issues with writing. Who knew.**

 **Sorry for the long break but I spent 6 weeks working at the PT Department in my local hospital and every afternoon I was too tired to write. God I'll be horrible when I graduate and actually have to start working every day. Not looking forward to that adult life.**

 **-Rayne**


End file.
